^SE  HANDLE 
ITH  CARE 

Jniversity  of 
lecticut  Libraries 


^ 


hbl,  stx 


LA     251.N2W2 
Early  schools  of  Naugatuck  : 


3    1153    005mSM    M 

s 


c<^tq  cisLu-  e- 


sOcryrr?- 


O     o 

5    D 


THE  .EARLY  SCHOOLS  OF 
NAUGATUCK , 

y 


A  Brief  History  of  Our  Schools,  Teachers,  Text 
Books,  Etc.,  from  1730  to  1850 


•N/WS^/S/S/S/S/S/V**^ 


ILLUSTRATED 


Compiled  by 

LLIAM^WA 

Naugatuck,  Conn. 


WILLIAM  XWARD 


COPYRIGHTED 

1906 

BY  THK  PERRY  PRESS 


The  Perry  Press,  Naugatuck,  Conn. 


Introductory  Note. 


The  writer  believes  that  the  history  of  the  ancient 
schools  of  Naugatuck  helps  to  make  up  a  part  of  the 
history  of  the  town,  and  that  a  description  of  the  old 
schools  and  schoolhouses  of  the  olden  time,  together 
with  a  brief  description  of  the  old  books  used  in  those 
days  would  be  interesting,  especially  to  those  who,  in 
recalling  the  scenes  of  their  childhood  days,  become,  as 
it  were,  young  again.  The  dates  of  teaching  mentioned 
are  given  to  the  best  of  my  ability  and,  with  very  few 
exceptions,  will  be  found  correct. 

After  my  own  collection  of  school  books  was  ex- 
hausted, I  have  been  greatly  aided  by  the  list  of  books 
and  contents,  as  compiled  by  Clifton  Johnson.  I  also 
am  much  indebted  to  the  following  persons  for  informa- 
tion concerning  the  old  schools,  etc.:  The  late  Mrs. 
James  S.  Lewis,  Mrs.  Hart  C.  Hubbell.  Mr.  John  M. 
Sweeney,  the  late  Mr.  Homer  Twitchell,  Mrs.  Asahel 
H.  Lewis,  Mr.  Samuel  Piatt.  Mr.  Miner  S.  Baldwin.  Mrs. 
Maria  Hitchcock,  Mrs.  Frances  A.  Piatt,  Mr.  Newell  A. 
Smith,  Mr.  Thomas  Scott,  the  late  Mrs.  Fannie  M. 
Saunders,  Mr.  Lucius  M.  Baldwin,  Mrs.  Fannie  B.  Yale, 
Miss  Eliza  Spencer,  Miss  Harriet  Spencer,  the  late  Miss 
Esther   Spencer,    Mr.  Robert  W.  Hill,    Mr.  James   E. 

Sweeney,  and  others. 

William  Ward. 

Naugatuck,  Conn. 


Contents. 


PAGE 

A  Brief  Mention  of  the  Laws  Relating  to  the  Public  Schools  7 

Something  about  the  Early  Schools  of  Naugatuck      . .         . .  9 

Judd's  Meadow  School  District        ..         .. n 

Center  School  District  

Middle  School  District  17 

22 
Lewistown  School  District 

The  District  Later  Called  Pond  Hill  District 29 

Pond  Hill  District         32 

Partridgetown  School  District        40 

42 
Southwest  School  District 

Millville  School  District        

54 
City  School  District 

CO 

Straitsville  School  District 

fiO 

The  Old  Schoolhouses  

fi2 
School  Books       

76 
Union  Center  School  District  

81 
Private  or  Select  Schools       

83 
Tabitha  Castle  and  her  School        . .         

97 
The  Country  School 


List  of  Illustrations. 


First  High  School  in  Union  Center  School  District       Frontispiece 

Center  District  Schoolhouse opp    14 

Middle  District  Schoolhouse ,,      19 

Lewistown  District  Schoolhouse       ..         ..         ..         ..  ,,      27 

Pond  Hill  District  Schoolhouse        ,,      32 

Straitsville  District  Schoolhouse ,,      58 


A  Brief  Mention  of  the  Laws  Re 
lating  to  the  Public  Schools 


Also  Something  About  the  Early  Schools  of  Naug- 
atuck,  from  1730  to  1850 

It  is  not  the  intention  of  the  writer  to  give  the  laws 
relating  to  the  public  schools,  but  to  mention  in  a  gen- 
eral way  the  action  of  the  Colony.  State,  Towns  and  So- 
cieties concerning  the  public  schools.  If  any  desire 
further  information  I  would  refer  them  to  the  Annual 
Report  of  the  Board  of  Education  for  the  year  1876. 

At  a  Town  meeting  held  in  New  Haven  Feb.  25, 
1642,  a  vote  was  passed  as  follows: 

"Itt  is  ordered  that  a  free  school  shall  be  sett  up 
"in  this  town,  and  ourpastar,  Mr.  Davenport,  togeth- 
er with  the  magistrates  shall  consider  what  yearly 
"allowance  is  meet  to  be  given  to  itt  out  of  the  com- 
"mon  stock  of  the  town,  and  also  whatt  rules  and  or- 
"  ders  ar  meet  to  be  observed  in  and  about  the  same." 

Other  laws  were  passed  in  1645,  and  1650,  relating 
to  the  schools.     To  show  how  largely  the  religious  idea 


8  EARLY  SCHOOLS  OF  NAUGATUCK. 

entered  into  the  management  of  the  public  schools  at 
that  time,  I  copy  in  part  from  the  code  of  laws  passed 
by  the  New  Haven  Colony  in  1655: 

"Children  and  Approntices  as  they  capable,  may 
"  through  Gods  blessing-  attain  at  least  so  much  as  to 
"be  able  duly  to  read  the  Scriptures,  and  other  good 
"and  profitable  printed  books  in  the  English  tongue, 
"being  their  language,  and  in  some  compatent  meas- 
ure to  understand  the  main  grounds  and  principles 
"  of  Christian  Religion  necssary  to  salvation." 

Laws  were  passed  in  the  years  1672,  1677  and  in 
1690;  also  in  1700,1712,  1717,  1766  and  1797,  etc.  I  find 
a  summary  of  the  laws  relating  to  schools  in  the  Con- 
necticut Report  of  the  Schools,  1876.  It  is  well  con- 
densed and  I  copy  as  follows; 

"Towns  alone  established,  provided  for,  and  reg- 
"ulated  schools  till  1712;  parishes  or  societies  then 
.  "regulated, but  only  as  sub-division,  or  virtually  school 
"districts  in  the  towns;  in  1750,  Towns  and  societies 
"  were  made  practically  equal  in  conducting  school  af- 
"  fairs;  in  1798  the  school  societies  superseded  towns 
"  and  took  charge  of  schools  in  their  stead;  and  in  1856 
"  the  societies  were  abolished  and  the  towns  restored 
"  to  their  original  place  in  the  school  system.  School 
"districts  practically  existed  in  the  larger  towns  as 
"early  as  1725,  but  were  not  recognized  by  law  till 
"1766;  they  had  no  semblance  of  corporate  existence 
"till  1794,  and  were  not  fully  endowed  as  bodies  cor- 
porate till  1839." 


EARLY  SCHOOLS  OF 
•  NAUGATUCK 


It  is  apparent  the  town  of  Waterbury  had  the  power 
to  establish  a  school  district  in  the  southern  part  of  the 
town  in  the  year  of  1730.  This  district  would  be  under 
the  control  of  the  town  until  the  organization  of  the 
Salem  Society,  which  occurred  in  May,  1773.  After- 
wards Salem  Society  managed  the  schools  in  its  limits. 

After  1773  the  schools  were  controlled  for  years  by 
the  society.  The  society  established  a  number  of  school 
districts  and  had  full  control  of  the  same  until  about 
1794.  Salem  Society  in  1773  chose  Mr.  Isaac  Judd,  Mr. 
Israel  Terrel  and  Mr.  Asahel  Porter  as  School  Commit- 
tee.    For  collector,  Mr.  Thomas  Porter,  Jr. 

Voted  in  Feb.,  1774,  that  the  east  side  of  the  river 
be  one  district,  and  the  west  side  another  district.  But 
this  was  not  done,  as  the  same  year  they  divided  the 
territory  on  the  east  side  and  formed  a  new  district. 
New  districts  were  laid  out  in  1774,  1777,  1778  and  in 
1779  At  a  society's  meeting  held  in  December,  1780, 
it  was  voted  that  each  district  should  take  its  own 
method  to  control  its  own  schooling.      But  the  society 


10  EARLY  SCHOOLS  OF  NAUGATUCK. 

for  a  number  of  years  elected  the  district  committees 
and  collectors. 

In  December,  1794,  Salem  Society  chose  Jared  By 
ington  for  treasurer  for  the  school  moneys  and  to  collect 
all  public  money  and  to  pay  it  over  to  each  school  dis- 
trict. The  last  district  committee  chosen  by  the  socie- 
ty, that  I  have  any  account  of,  were  Uri  Scott,  Chaun- 
cey  Judd,  Roswell  Caulkins,  Abraham  Tinker,  Walter 
Judd,  Amos  Hotchkiss  and  Cyrus  Norton,  apparently 
for  seven  districts.  I  think  that  Salem  Society  did  not 
exercise  control  over  the  several  districts  after  1794,  al- 
though they  may  have  chosen  a  treasurer  to  receive  the 
public  money  for  several  years. 


JudcTs  Meadow  School  District 


In  the  year  of  1730.  the  town  of  Waterbury  passed 
the  following: 

11  December  14,  1730.  It  was  agreed  by  vote  that 
"at  Judd's  Meadow  acording-  to  their  families  they 
"shall  have  their  school  money  acording  to  their 
"lists." 

In  December,  1749,  the  first  society  of  Waterbury 
was  divided  into  four  school  districts,  to  wit.:  Town 
Plot  (Town  Center),  Buck's  Hill,  Judd's  Meadow,  and 
Breakneck,  each,  provided  15  scholars  were  furnished, 
to  have  its  proportion  of  schooling  and  school  money. 

It  appears  that  there  was  the  following  list  of  fam- 
ilies residing  at  Judd's  Meadow  on  December  14,  1730: 

"  Serg.  Joseph  Lewis,  Samuel  Scott,Jobn  Andruss, 
"Joseph  Lewis,  Jr.,  Edmond  Scott,  Jr.,  John  Barns. 
"Samuel  Barns,  Jobn  Johnson,  James  Brown,  Eben- 
"  ezer  Hickox,  Samuel  Warner,  Sen., and  Samuel  War- 
"  ner,  Jr.  December  12,  1737,  It  was  voted  that  the 
"  school  for  the  year  ensuing-  shall  be  keept  six  weeks 
"att  Judd's  Meadow,  that  said  school  shall  maintain 
"seven  scholars  at  school." 

There  was  a  schoolhouse  erected  in  the  Judd's 
Meadow  school  district,  but  at  what  time  is  unknown. 
The  first  mention  of  it  is  in  a  warning  for  the  first  meet- 
ing of  the  Salem  Society,  by  Samuel  Lewis,  Esq..  who 
was  authorized  by  the  Assembly  to  call  the  first  meeting 
at  the  schoolhouse  on  the  first  Monday  of  June,  1773. 


12  EARLY  SCHOOLS  OF   NAUGATUCK. 

This  schoolhouse  was  the  only  one  standing  in  1773,  so 
far  as  those  now  living  can  determine.  Other  school- 
houses  were  mentioned  after  the  year  1773,  but  no  one 
can  tell  when  they  were  built.  The  Judd's  Meadow 
school  district  comprised  a  great  part  of  the  territory 
now  in  the  limits  of  Naugatuck.  The  legal  existence  of 
this  district  was  from  1749,  (although  a  school  was  main- 
tained in  1730)  until  the  Salem  Society  commenced  to 
divide  this  territory  into  smaller  districts,  which  was 
during  the  year  1774.  It  would  seem  to  us  a  long  jour- 
ney for  the  far  away  scholars  to  go  to  the  schoolhouse, 
but  such  were  the  hardships  that  the  children  of  the 
plucky  people  that  settled  our  town  had  to  endure. 

This  schoolhouse  stood  at  the  southeast  corner  of 
what  is  now  May  and  High  streets,  on  the  hill  east  of, 
and  overlooking,  the  village.  This  schoolhouse  re- 
mained on  the  hill  and  was  used  for  a  schoolhouse  by 
the  new  district,  called  the  Center  school  district,  until 
the  year  1811  or  '12. 

I  am  fortunate  in  finding  among  some  old  papers  a 
memorandum  of  money  paid  to  teachers  who  may  be 
supposed  to  have  taught  in  the  old  schoolhouse  on  the 
hill,  before,  the  Center  School  District  was  formed. 
What  surprises  me  is  that  they  changed  teachers  so 
often,  paying  a  new  teacher  about  every  month  It  is 
said  in  the  history  of  Waterbury  that  the  teachers  went 
around  from  one  district  to  another  to  teach. 

"February  the  1  — 1771,  paid  Ame  Constant  for 
"keeping  school  £0  —  11  —  0.  March  14,  1771,  paid 
' •  Olive  Upson  for  keepin  school  £0  — 13  —  0.  April  ye 
"24  — 1771,  paid  to  Temperance  Spencer  for  keeping 
"school  £0  —  13  —  9." 


judd's  meadow  school  district.  13 

Then  again  May  10 —  1771,  paid  Daniel  Warner  for 
keeping  school  £0 — 15  —  9.  Then  comes  the  name  of 
Esther  Cook  in  1772.  eight  shillings,  and  she  also  re- 
ceived November  1  — 1771,  one  pound  for  the  same  ser- 
vice. Samuel  Lewis.  Esq.,  and  others  were  the  School 
Committee  in  the  Judd's  Meadow  School  District. 


Center  School  District 


At  a  meeting  of  the  Ecclesiastical  Society  of  Salem 
held  December  1st.  1777: 

"  Sett  off  a  District  for  schooling  on  the  East  side 
"of  the  River,  beginning-  at  Nathan  Porter's  malt 
''house,"  (near  what  is  now  the  junction  of  South 
Main  and  High  streets),  "to  extend  North  as  far  as 
"the  road  —  and  include  all  the  inhabitants  from 
"the  River  a  quarter  of  a  mile  East  of  New  Haven 
"  road"  (now  High  street),  'and  to  extend  near  Mr. 
"  Jude  Hoadley's  house." 

This  was  the  beginning  of  what  was  later  called  the 
Center  School  District.  The  boundaries  were  changed 
from  time  to  time  until  they  were  the  same  as  known 
about  60  years  ago.  At  one  time  a  portion  of  the  terri- 
tory on  the  west  side  of  the  river  was  included  in  the 
Center  District.  At  the  time  it  was  named  the  Center 
District,  the  business  of  Salem  was  nearly  all  conducted 
on  the  east  side  of  the  river,  hence  the  name.  It  ap- 
pears that  Salem  Society  appointed  the  district  commit- 
tees after  the  districts  were  laid  out,  for  on  December 
2d,  1793,  Jared  Byington  was  appointed  school  commit- 
tee and  collector  for  the  district  (later  called  the  Cen- 
ter District).  December  1st,  17J1,  the  society  voted  that 
Jared  Byington  be  the  treasurer  for  the  school  money, 
to  collect  all  the  public  money  for  schooling,  and  pay  it 
over  to  each  school  district.  The  first  schoolhouse  men- 
tioned in  any  records  as  standing  in  the  limits  of  Nau- 
gatuck,  was  the  schoolhouse  mentioned  in  the  warning 


,•••  i  \  -H'  *  -  «^ 
*  h  ' .  i'-:,-Jr-' 


f    « 


CENTER  SCHOOL  DISTRICT.  Id 

sent  out  by  Samuel  Lewis,  Esq.,  to  the  householders 
living  within  the  lines  of  the  society  of  Salem.  I  copy 
in  part: 

11  Pereuant  to  the  act  passed,  incorporating  the 
"  Salem  Ecclesiastical  Society,  Samuel  Lewis,  Esq., 
"Sent  out  Citations  to  Site  all  Householders  living 
14  within  the  Limits  of  the  society  of  Salem,  to  meet 
"at  the  Schoolhouse  on  the  first  Monday  of  June,  1773, 
"  which  Sitation  was  Duly  Served  and  returned,  and 
"the  Society  met  acording  to  the  Warning,  upon  the 
"first  Monday  of  June,  1773,"  etc. 

So  it  appears  that  our  early  settlers  were  mindful 
of  the  importance  of  educating  their  children,  for  they 
had  provided  a  schoolhouse  more  than  nine  years  before 
they  erected  their  place  for  woi  ship  When  this  school- 
house  was  built  is  unknown.  It  was  probably  the  first 
schoolhouse  built  in  Judd's  Meadow  School  District. 
This  schoolhouse  stood  at  the  southeast  corner  of  what 
is  now  called  May  and  Hill  streets  on  the  hill  east,  and 
overlooking  the  village.  This  schoolhouse  was  proba- 
bly used  for  religious  purposes  until  the  society  built 
their  church,  which  was  in  the  year  of  1782.  This 
schoolhouse  remained  on  the  hill  until  about  the  year 
1811  or  '12.  It  was  about  that  time  moved  down  to  the 
east  bank  of  the  Naugatuck  river,  and  was  used  by  Mr. 
Daved  Stevens  for  a  wood  house.  It  is  with  much  re- 
gret that  the  writer  is  compelled  to  say  that  he  is  una- 
ble to  give  one  single  name  of  a  teacher  who  taught  the 
children  in  this  old  schoolhouse  since  1773.  Unfortu- 
nately all  the  records  relating  to  the  old  schoolhouse 
are  lost.  The  second  schoolhouse  in  the  Center  District 
is  believed  to  have  been  built  about  1811  or  '12.  It  is 
referred  to  in  a  deed  of  land  adjoining,  dated  October 


16  EARLY  SCHOOLS  OF  NAUGATUCK. 

25th,  1815.  It  was  erected  a  little  northerly  of  the  old 
cemetery  (now  Oak  street),  where  it  remained  until 
about  the  year  1849,  when  it  was  demolished.  From 
that  time  until  the  Center  District  joined  in  the  consol- 
idation of  the  Union  Center  School  District,  the  Center 
District  school  was  kept  in  a  building  not  far  away  from 
the  former  site.  In  the  year  1851  the  Center  School 
District  was  one  of  the  five  districts  that  consolidated 
under  the  name  of  the  Union  Center  School  District, 
For  further  information  about  the  consolidation,  refer- 
ence is  made  to  the  records  of  the  Union  Center  School 
District. 

The  writer  has  been  able  to  obtain  some  of  the 
names  of  the  teachers  who  cared  for  the  children,  and 
labored  faithfully  to  mould  and  improve  their  minds. 
I  cannot  give  their  names  in  the  order  and  time  of  their 
teaching.  The  following  persons  taught  in  the  Oak 
street  schoolhouse:  Miss  Lockey  Spencer,  (daughter 
of  Calvin  Spencer)  taught  before  1825.  Miss  Mary 
Spencer  (daughter  of  Ansel)  a  teacher,  about  1832.  Rev. 
Mr.  Butts.  Miss  Frances  Clark,  about  1837.  Mr.  Peck, 
Miss  Radford,  from  Seymour,  who  taught  about  1842. 
Miss  Nancy  Bunnell,  from  Branford,  Conn. ;  Miss  Eliza 
Grilley  (daughter  of  Silas);  Miss  Agusta  Hine  (daughter 
of  Richard),  a  teacher  about  1845;  Mr.  A.  L.  Bennett, 
Miss  Wooster  from  Middlebury.  Miss  Caroline  Hoadley, 
and  others. 

The  Center  School  District  was  one  of  the  five  dis- 
tricts that  consolidated  in  the  year  1851  under  the  name 
of  Union  Center  School  District,  and  still  remains  in 
that  district. 


Middle  School  District 


The  first  mention  of  the  Middle  District  is  the  fol- 
lowing, found  in  the  Salem  Society  records: 

"December,  1778.  At  a  Societies  meeting,  Made 
"  a  new  District  for  schooling,  beginning  at  Mr. 
"Nathan  Porter's  malt  house"  (now  the  junction  of 
South  Main  and  High  streets)  "and  running  to  the 
"  Southeast  corner  of  a  District  that  Capt.  Hotchkiss 
"  belong  to,  Wallingford  line,  thense  to  extend  South 
"  and  to  include  the  whole  of  the  Society,  round  to  the 
"  River  and  up  to  the  first  mentioned  corner." 

This  territory  would  all  be  in  the  limits  of  Salem 
Society,  but  the  southerly  part  of  the  said  district  would 
at  that  time  be  in  the  towns  of  Milford  and  Derby.  It 
was  voted  at  the  same  meeting  that  Mr.  Amos  Osborn  be 
chosen  district  committee.  This  district  must  have  been 
divided,  for  in  December,  1794,  Mr.  Joseph  Porter  was 
annexed  to  the  South  district.  In  the  absence  of  the  rec- 
ords on  this  point,  the  date  and  manner  of  the  division 
of  this  territory  into  districts  is  in  doubt. 

A  schoolhouse  is  mentioned  in  the  Waterbury  land 
records  as  standing  near  the  Straits  turnpike.  In  July, 
1804,  it  is  described  as  standing  south  of  turnpike  and 
west  of  Beacon  Hill  brook,  a  little  west  of  Waterbury 
line.  When  this  schoolhouse  was  built  is  unknown  to 
those   now   living.     It   may  have  been  one  of  the  old 


18  KARLY  SCHOOLS  OF   NAUGATUCK. 

schoolhouses  used  in  the  Judd's  Meadow  District,  or 
possibly  built  soon  after  the  district  mentioned  above 
was  formed,  in  the  year  1778.  I  have  the  name  of  only 
one  person  that  was  a  teacher  in  this  old  schoolhouse 
while  it  stood  upon  the  hill.  Mr.  Enoch  Newton  informs 
me  that  his  father,  Mr.  John  Newton,  taught  school  there 
before  1810.  After  1810,  this  schoolhouse  was  moved 
down  the  Straits  turnpike  to  the  junction  of  the  old 
County  road,  then  on  said  County  road  about  20  rods 
from  the  turnpike  to  a  point  on  the  southerly  side  of  the 
old  road  and  nearly  opposite  the  first  house  of  Abraham 
Hotchkiss,  where  it  was  used  for  school  purposes  until 
about  the  year  1825,  when  it  was  demolished.  The 
name  of  some  of  the  teachers  who,  more  than  three- 
quarters  of  a  century  ago,  had  the  care  of  the  moral  and 
intellectual  training  of  the  children  at  that  time  in  the 
old  schoolhouse  standing  near  the  old  County  road, 
were:  Mr.  Mark  Hotchkiss  (son  of  Abraham),  Mr.  John 
Newton,  Miss  Lockey  Spencer  (daughter  of  Calvin), 
Miss  Rachael  Hotchkiss  (daughter  of  Abraham),  Mr. 
Jared  Ford  (son  of  Elias)  and  Miss  Amanda  Hine  (daugh- 
ter of  Asa).  It  is  said  that  Miss  Amanda  Hine  was  the 
last  teacher  in  this  old  schoolhouse. 

The  next  schoolhouse  in  the  Middle  District,  ac- 
cording to  a  statement  made  by  the  late  Mr.  Harlow  New 
ton,  and  affirmed  by  Mr.  Enoch  Newton,  now  living  in 
1906,  was  built  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  turnpike  from 
the  present  schoolhouse,  and  on  the  land  then  belong- 
ing to  Mr.  John  Newton,  at  southeast  corner  of  the  lane 
leading  to  the  house  of  said  Newton.  This  schoolhouse 
was  built  about  1825  or  '6,  and  was  moved  a  few  years 


MIDDLE  SCHOOL  DISTRICT.  19 

later  to  a  point  nearly  opposite  the  house  now  (1906)  oc- 
cupied by  Mr.  Walter  Osborn,  where  it  remained  until 
the  year  1852,  when  it  was  sold  to  a  Mr.  Wooding  and 
removed  to  Straitsville.  and  afterwards  used  for  other 
purposes. 

I  have  been  fortunate  in  obtaining  a  number  of  the 
names  of  the  teachers  who  taught  in  the  second  school- 
house  in  the  Middle  District.  They  were  Mr.  Henry 
Spencer  (son  of  Ansel).  Mr.  Wakeley  Warner,  from  Wa- 
terbury,  Miss  Eliza  Ford  (daughter  of  Elias),  who  taught 
in  the  year  1839;  Mr.  Harris  B.  Munson,  of  Middlebury. 
teacher  in  1844,  county  judge  about  1850;  Miss  Delia 
Cowell,  from  Waterbury,  who  taught  in  the  winter  of 
1845;  Miss  Sarah  Thomas,  in  summer  of  1845;  and  Miss 
Martha  M.  Beecher,  who  taught  a  number  of  terms. 
The  present  schoolhouse  was  built  about  1852.  I  can 
only  find  the  records  of  the  Middle  District  as  far  back 
as  1872.  The  old  records  were  destroyed  in  part  by  fire 
in  the  destruction  of  the  Mathew  Baldwin  house,  and 
later  when  the  house  of  M.  S.  Baldwin  was  destroyed. 
Among  the  many  teachers  in  the  present  schoolhouse. 
Miss  Martha  M.  Beecher  appears  to  have  broken  the 
record  as  far  as  time  is  concerned,  she  having  taught 
about  ten  terms  in  the  two  last  schoolhouses.  This 
would  seem  to  prove  that  she  was  an  excellent  teacher. 
While  the  existing  records  do  not  go  back  beyond  1872 
I  find  some  memoranda.  It  appears  that  the  follow 
ing  persons  were  engaged  in  teaching:  Miss  Kate 
Woodward,  from  Bethany,  for  the  term  ending  December. 
1867,  and  March,  1868;  Miss  Ella  Warner,  term  ending 
July  24,  1868;     Miss  Alice  J.   Tolles,  term  ending  De 


20  EARLY  SCHOOLS  OF  NAUGATUCK. 

cember,  1868;  Miss  Eva  Benham,  terms  ending  July, 
1869  and  December  24,  1869;  Miss  Elizabeth  L.  Bald- 
win, terms  ending  March  and  December,  1870;  and  Miss 
Emmie  E.  Ward,  sometime  during  the  year  of  1872. 

The  roll  of  honor  for  the  term  beginning  Septem- 
ber 16,  1867,  Katie  E.  Woodward  teacher: 

No.  Name.                                                                           Age. 

1.  Ida  M.  Baldwin 11 

2.  George  Frank 10 

3.  Clarisse  L.  Frank 10 

4.  Jessie  Butterfield 10 

5.  Frederick  N.  Candee 9 

6.  Eldridge  Candee 7 

7.  Elliott  Candee 7 

8.  Kate  Conran 9 

9.  Edward  Conran 7 

10.  Mary  Beach 11 

11.  Licie  Brown  Hill 12 

12.  John  Horan 11 

13.  James  Horan 6 

14.  Charles  W.  Hoadley 12 

15.  Caroline  A.  Hoadley 5 

16.  George  H.Lent 10 

17.  John  Wright 8 

18.  Sarah  Hine 6 

19.  Emma  Mary  Osborn 9 

20.  Edward  Wilmot 6 

21.  Nelson  Baldwin 9 

22.  Merilda  V.  Butterfield 5 

23.  Albert  A.  Warner 13 

24.  Arthur  L.  Peck  10 

25.  Jennie  S.  Morse 5 

26.  George  Morse 

27.  Elmer  Butterfield 6 

28.  Owen  Hasan JO 

29.  Mary  A.  Cronan 11 


MIDDLE  SCHOOL  DISTRICT.  21 

30.  Horace  E.  Baldwin 7 

31.  Esther  E.  Hotchkiss 15 

32.  David  C.  Lent 13 

33.  Mary  J.  Horan 13 

34.  Edward  A.  Hotchkiss 13 

35.  Fannie  Martin 10 

36.  Miller  Sanford 8 

37.  Robert  G.  Merrills 13 

38.  Lonesia  B.  Wilmot 5 

21  boys  and  17  girls. 

From  September  16th  to  December  6th,  1867. 

Katie  E.  Woodward,  Teacher. 

At  a  meeting  of  Salem  Society  held  December  1st. 
1794,  Cyrus  Norton  was  appointed  school  committee  for 
the  Middle  District,  also  collector.  It  appears  that  in 
the  year  1845,  Dyer  Hotchkiss  was  district  committee. 
Samuel  C.  Osborn  served  as  school  committee  for  many 
years.  From  later  records  we  find  that  in  1872.  Walter 
Osborn  was  elected  committee.  Miner  S.  Baldwin  clerk, 
and  Charles  Benham  treasurer.  The  following  persons 
were  elected  committee  in  the  years  set  opposite  their 
names:  Isaac  B.  Tolles  in  1873  and  1877;  George 
Twitchell  in  1874  and  '5;  Augustus  Peck  in  1876;  M.  S. 
Baldwin  in  1878;  Joseph  Schofield  in  1879  and  '80;  Wal- 
ter Osborn  in  1881;  Elton  E.  Hotchkiss  in  1882  and  E. 
A.  Hotchkiss  in  1883.  Miner  S.  Baldwin  served  as 
clerk  from  1872  to  1881  inclusive,  with  one  exception. 
Isaac  B.  Tolles  being  elected  in  August,  1878.  E.  A. 
Hotchkiss  was  elected  clerk  in  August,  1882,  and  Rufus 
E.  Hine  in  1883.  M.  S.  Baldwin  was  again  elected  clerk 
in  August,  1884,  which  office  he  has  held  continuously 
up  to  the  present  time,  1906. 


Lewistown  School  District 


The  first  mention  of  the  Lewistown  District  is  found 
in  the  records  of  Salem  Society: 

11  At  a  Societies  meeting  held  on  the  first  Thurs- 
day of  January,  1779.  At  the  same  meeting  made  a 
"  District  for  Schooling  on  the  West  side  of  the  River, 
41  Beginning  at  the  great  Bridge  Running  Northerly 
"Round  in  the  road  to  Mr.  Abraham  Adames,  from 
"thense  to  the  Bridge  at  Toantic  Brook,  Leaving 
11  those  on  the  West  side  of  the  Road  to  Chose  which 
"District  to  belong  to,  from  said  Bridge  to  Mr.  Eli 
11  Adames,  including  his  house;  from  thense  South  to 
11  the  Society  Line,  from  thense  to  the  River,  and  up 
"  the  River  to  the  Bridge,  the  first  mentioned  corner." 

At  a  Society's  meeting  held  in  February,  1794,  it 
was  voted  that  Mr.  Jonah  Woodruff  and  Mr.  John  Smith 
be  set  to  the  South  or  Lewis  district  for  schooling.  The 
first  schoolhouse  was  built  soon  after  1779,  possibly  be- 
fore, (as  there  was  one  or  more  schoolhouses  in  the 
Judd's  Meadow  District.)  The  first  schoolhouse  in  the 
Lewistown  District  stood  on  the  southwest  side  of  the 
old  road  from  Joseph  Lewis'  home  lot,  to  Daniel  Wil- 
liams' house  (now  Millville,  this  road  is  now  Scott 
street),  and  about  midway  between  Arch  street  and  An- 
drew avenue.  This  schoolhouse  was  used  for  school 
purposes  until  about  the  year  1823,  when  Mr.  Josiah  Cul- 
ver took  it  in  part  payment  for  building  a  new  «chool- 


LEWISTOWN  SCHOOL  DISTRICT.  23 

house.  The  old  house  was  taken  down  and  set  up  at 
the  mouth  of  Beacon  Hill  brook,  where  the  building  was 
used  in  the  making  of  buttons,  mouse  traps  and  other 
articles. 

The  names  of  the  teachers  that  had  care  of  the  chil- 
dren in  those  days,  more  than  one  hundred  years  ago, 
are  unknown  to  those  now  living.  The  writer  has  been 
fortunate  in  obtaining  the  names  of  some  of  those  that 
were  teachers,  one  of  them,  who  taught  over  one  hundred 
years  ago  and  some  of  later  date.  The  first  teacher  that 
I  can  mention  was  Miss  Tabitha  or  Tabby  Castle  of  Water- 
bury.     The  following,  found  among  some  family  papers, 

explains  itself: 

^  Salem,  Nov.  28,  1804. 

Received  of  Mr.  Culpeper  Hoadley  for  teaching 
the  summer  school  in  Lewis  district,  the  sum  of  $30 
dollars  in  full  amount.  tabby  Castle. 

(Further  information  about  Miss  Castle  may  be  found 
in  the  history  of  Tabby  Castle  and  her  school.)  Miss 
Castle  taught  in  the  summer  term,  24  weeks,  for  $1.25 
per  week.  The  winter  school  covered  15  weeks,  com- 
pensation $1.62*  per  week.  Samuel  Scott  was  allowed 
for  boarding  Miss  Castle  10  weeks  in  winter  $7.50. 

After  Miss  Castle,  came  Miss  Polly  Brocket  (daugh- 
ter of  Giles),  who  taught  in  the  summer  of  1807.  Miss 
Lockey  Spencer  (daughter  of  Calvin),  a  teacher  about 
the  year  1812.  Miss  Flora  Beckley  (daughter  of  Dr. 
Beckley)  was  a  teacher  about  the  year  1815.  Miss 
Nancy  Hull  (daughter  of  Dr.  Nimrod)  ,Miss  Polly  Mal- 
lery,  Capt.  Ira  Hotchkiss  of  Watertown,  Conn  ,  and  Mr. 
Jared  Ford  (son  of  Ellas).     It  is  said  that  Mr.  Jared 


24  EARLY  SCHOOLS  OF  NAUGATUCK. 

Ford  was  the  last  teacher  in  the  old  schoolhouse.  I 
have  the  names  of  several  teachers  who  have  been  re- 
ported as  teachers  in  the  old  schoolhouse,  but  there  is 
some  doubt,  so  I  will  place  them  as  teaching  in  the  new- 
er or  second  schoolhouse.  The  next,  or  second,  school - 
house  is  mentioned  in  a  layout  of  land  in  January,  1823, 
as  already  built.  It  stood  at  the  junction  of  what  is  now 
called  Scott  and  Arch  streets,  and  was  used  for  school 
purposes  until  consolidation  into  the  Union  Center 
School  District,  which  occurred  in  the  year  1851.  As 
the  Lewistown  District  continued  with  the  Union  Center 
District,  the  schoolhouse  was  no  longer  used  as  such, 
but  was  afterward  used  as  a  tenement  house,  until  the 
spring  of  1897,  when  it  was  demolished.  This  school  - 
house  in  the  Lewistown  District  was  first  remembered 
by  the  writer  in  the  year  1830,  for  it  was  his  lot  to  at- 
tend school  in  this  schoolhouse  during  all  of  his  school 
life,  with  the  exception  of  a  short  time. 

I  am  much  pleased  to  be  able  to  give  so  good  a  pict- 
ure of  the  old  Lewistown  schoolhouse.  I  am  under 
great  obligations  to  Mr.  James  E.  Sweeney  for  the  use 
of  the  picture  that  he  had  the  though tfulness  to  obtain 
before  the  building  was  destroyed.  The  addition  is 
shown  in  the  illustration  given.  Before  1835  or  '36  the 
schoolhouse  consisted  of  only  one  room.  The  interior 
of  this  house  was  a  little  better  than  some  of  the  older 
schoolhouses  that  I  remember.  Like  the  others  it  had 
at  first  only  one  room,  but  it  was  more  modern  in  that 
we  did  not  have  the  old  slab  seats,  with  the  four  sticks 
for  supports.  The  seats  for  the  little  children  were 
made  of  good  hard  oak  boards,  with  backs  of  the  same 


LXWISTOWN  SCHOOL  DISTRICT.  26 

material.  But  it  must  have  been  very  hard  for  the 
smaller  children  to  sit  so  long  without  touching  their 
feet  to  the  floor;  no  wonder  that  they  were  restless  and 
uneasy.  The  larger  scholars  faced  the  teacher  part  of 
the  time,  but  before  ciphering  or  writing  they  swung 
their  feet  and  legs  over  their  seats,  then  sitting  with 
faces  toward  the  wall.  This  table  or  shelf  extended 
on  three  sides  of  the  room.  As  I  first  remember  this 
schoolhouse  it  was  only  about  eight  years  old.  But  it 
was  at  that  time  well  ornamented  with  nautical  craft, 
from  a  sloop  to  a  seventy-four  gun  ship,  besides  the 
horses,  carts,  birds,  etc. ,  which  covered  the  boys'  side 
of  the  schoolroom. 

While  carving  and  wood  engraving  were  not  taught 
in  the  public  schools  at  that  time,  still  the  boys  took  to 
it.  To  use  an  old  expression  of  those  days,  k  4  it  cum 
nat'al." 

When  the  larger  scholars  faced  the  teacher,  they 
had  the  privilege  of  leaning  their  backs  against  the 
edge  of  a  real  oak  board;  although  the  edge  of  the  board 
was  rounded  a  little,  still  it  was  a  thing  to  be  felt,  and 
one  could  rest  his  back  against  it  until  he  could  rest 
no  more. 

The  second  schoolhouse  was  heated  by  a  stove,  one 
of  the  Franklin  kind,  open  in  front.  Later  they  used  a 
large  box  stove. 

One  of  the  men  teachers  had  a  habit  of  confiscating 
all  the  playthings  from  the  boys  and  throwing  them  into 
the  stove.     The  boys  observed  this;  so  at  one  time  three 


26  EARLY  SCHOOLS  OF   NAUGATUCK. 

of  the  larger  boys  provided  themselves  each  with  a 
block  of  wood  about  the  same  size,  and  had  them  handy 
for  the  teacher  to  see.  His  eagle  eye  soon  discovered 
them,  and  he  seized  at  once  the  harmless  looking  play- 
things and  promptly  thrust  them  into  the  stove.  In  a 
short  time  there  was  a  tremendous  explosion.  The 
whole  school  was  in  an  uroar.  During  the  screaming  of 
the  little  scholars,  the  Oh's  of  the  girls  and  the  chuckle 
of  the  larger  boys,  the  ashes  had  mostly  settled.  But 
the  face  of  the  teacher  was  a  puzzle.  He  had  seized 
three  blocks,  one  from  each  boy,  but  there  was  but  one 
explosion.  Which  one?  He  said  nothing,  but  restored 
order  as  soon  as  possible,  but  it  broke  his  habit.  After- 
wards he  put  the  playthings  into  his  desk  for  future 
disposal:  so  it  was  a  good  thing  for  the  order  and  good 
appearance  of  the  school,  and  it  was  also  a  good  thing 
for  the  stove. 

The  ability  to  master  all  the  studies  varied  among 
the  scholars;  some  excelled  in  arithmetic,  others  in  ge- 
ography, some  in  history  or  grammar,  with  many  good 
in  spelling.  But  this  was  a  hard  study  for  a  few  to 
master;  some  of  the  boys  could  not  get  onto  it;  a  few  of 
the  boys  were  generally  near  the  foot  of  the  class. 
Some  doubted  if  they  ever  had  a  clear  conception  of 
how  things  looked  at  the  head  of  the  spelling  class,  for 
they  never  got  there.  But  I  suppose  the  boys  in  the 
Lewistown  District  were  about  the  same  in  their  deport- 
ment as  the  boys  in  the  other  districts.  I  don't  dare  to 
take  the  risk  in  saying  that  they  were  any  better.  Not- 
withstanding their  mischief  and  pranks  the  Lewistown 
District  turned  out  a  goodly  number  of  men  and  women. 


LEWISTOWN  SCHOOL  DISTRICT.  27 

who  were  respected  and  worthy  citizens.  The  school- 
house  (built  in  the  year  1823)  some  years  later  was  pro- 
vided with  an  additional  room  in  which  to  hang  the 
wrappings  belonging  to  the  scholars.  A  little  wood  was 
stored  in  one  side,  while  the  familiar  water  pail,  with 
its  tin  dipper,  always  stood  handy  near  the  door. 

Some  of  the  teachers  in  the  second  schoolhouse 
were  Mr.  Jared  Ford  (son  of  Elias).  Mr.  Ford,  it  was 
said,  was  the  first  teacher  in  the  new  or  second  school  - 
house.  Miss  Eliza  Wheeler,  Miss  Alma  Terrell,  Miss 
Mary  Ann  Hotchkiss  (daughter  of  Mark),  Miss  Clarissa 
Benham,  Miss  Eliza  French.  In  the  winter  of  1830-31 
Joel  White  from  Oxford, Conn.,  taught;  MissTirza  Buck- 
ingham from  Oxford;  Miss  Mary  Ann  Thomas  from 
Bethany,  who  taught  about  the  3'ear  1832.  Miss  Mary 
C.  Spencer  (daughter  of  Ansel)  taught  during  the  years 
of  1833  and  '34.  An  excellent  teacher.  Miss  Eunice  Hill, 
(daughter  of  Samuel,  a  noted  teacher),  taught  in  about 
the  year  1836.  Miss  Salina  Pool.  Miss  Maria  G.  Hunt- 
ington. Mr.  Gustavus  Spencer  (son  of  Calvin)  Miss 
Paulina  Beecher,  1839-40;  Mr.  George  Merriman 
from  Waterbury,  Mr.  Ira  Hotchkiss  from  Watertown, 
and  his  son  Augustus  for  a  short  time:  Mr.  Peter  Fair- 
child  from  Newtown,  my  last  teacher  in  the  winter  of 
1842-43;  a  Mr.  Rodgers  in  1844;  Miss  Nancy  Bunnell,  Miss 
Harriet  Coe,  Miss  Nancy  Thomas  from  Bethany.  Miss 
Lucy  Thayer.  Miss  Eineline  Steel  from  Washington, 
Conn.,  Miss  Sarah  Smith,  Miss  Pangman,  Mr.  Strong, 
and  others. 

In  December,  1794,  Mr.  Roswell  Caulkins  was  ap- 
pointed by  the  Salem  Society  as  a  district  committee  for 


28  EARLY  SCHOOLS  OF  NAUGATUCK. 

Lewistown.  The  school  records  of  Lewistown  District 
are  all  lost  and  the  writer  is  unable  to  give  the  name  of 
the  last  committee.  From  memoranda  found  I  can 
say  that  in  the  year  1804,  Culpeper  Hoadley  was  district 
committee;  in  1845,  Selden  Lewis,  William  Hoadley, 
and  later  Charles  Spencer  and  others. 


The  District  Later  Called  Pond 
Hill  District 


uAt  a  Societies  meeting  held  Dec,  1790.  At  same 
'  meeting  formed  a  District  for  schooling,  as  follows: 
'  Beginning  at  the  bounds  north  of  Ickabod  Terrells. 
•  then  southerly  to  Ickabod  Terrells,  then  tolsarel  Cal- 
"  kins,  and  from  then3e  to  Jonah  Frisbes,  leaving  said 
;;  Calkins  and  Frisbe  to  their  choise  where  to  go.  Then 
;t  takin  said  road  (now  Wooster  street)  to  Gorges  Hol- 
;;  low,  where  the  road  crosses,  then  North  in  said  road 
;'  to  the  Bounds  of  the  first  Society,  including  the  in- 
11  habitants  on  said  road,  and  from  thense  to  the  first 


This  layout  would  commence  at  the  first  Society 
line  in  the  George's  Hollow  road,  running  southerly  by 
Russell's  Pond  to  Ickabod  Terrell's  house,  thence  west- 
erly over  Hopkins  Hill,  taking  in  the  house  of  Israel 
Calkins  (later  owned  by  Burr  Johnson),  thence  to  the 
house  of  Jonah  Prisbie  (on  what  is  now  Wooster  street), 
continuing  easterly  on  said  street  to  the  road  running 
northerly,  thence  northerly  in-  road  to  bounds,  thence 
easterly  on  first  Society  bounds  to  first  corner.  We 
can  suppose  that  from  this  layout  there  were  afterwards 
additions  and  alterations,  making  the  present  Pond  Hill 

District. 

The  first  schoolhouse  mentioned  in  this  territory  is 


30  EARLY  SCHOOLS  OF   NAUGATUCK. 

in  an  entry  on  the  Waterbury  land  records,  concerning 
the  boundaries  of  land,  in  1794.  The  starting  point  is 
described  as  at  a  point  near  the  place  where  a  schoolhouse 
formerly  stood,  which  I  am  informed  was  on  the  upper 
corner,  and  on  the  right  hand  side  as  you  leave  the  Pond 
Hill  road  to  go  down  to  the  Burr  Johnson  place.  Only 
one  of  the  old  people  now  living  thinks  it  was  destroyed 
by  fire.  All  the  others  think  that  it  was  standing  until 
the  new  schoolhouse  was  built,  and  that  some  of  the  old 
timbers  were  used  in  the  new  house.  Probably  the 
schoolhouse  was  rebuilt  soon  after  1794,  and  remained 
there  until  about  the  year  1822.  The  mention  of  a 
schoolhouse  on  what  might  be  called  Pond  Hill,  was  in 
a  deed  of  land  bearing  the  date  1804.  This  deed  located 
a  schoolhouse  near  the  Elias  Ford  place,  now  occupied 
(1906)  by  William  Hopkins.  The  above  mentioned 
schoolhouse  disappeared  soon  after  1804,  but  I  cannot 
learn  anything  more  about  it. 

I  find  a  number  of  old  persons  who  well  remember 
hearing  their  parents  describe  a  schoolhouse  once  stand- 
ing on  a  point  of  land  nearly  opposite  the  house  now 
(1906)  owned  by  Mr.  Hulstrunk.  The  schoolhouse  re- 
ferred to  above  was  standing  there  as  late  as  1825,  but 
was  not  at  that  time  used  for  school  purposes.  Some 
now  living  think  that  as  the  schoolhouse  once  standing 
near  the  Elias  Ford  place  disappeared  about  1804,  that 
it  may  have  been  set  up  near  the  Hulstrunk  place.  The 
writer  can  learn  but  little  about  this  schoolhouse. 

Those  that  taught  in  this  house  and  the  scholars 
that  attended  school  there  appear  to  be  unknown  to 
those  now  living. 


POND   HILL  SCHOOL   DISTRICT.  31 

At  the  time  that  the  present  Pond  Hill  schoolhouse 
was  built  the  district  was  called  the  Union  or  United 
District,  and  the  children  residing  in  Union  City  attend- 
ed school  at  the  house  now  called  the  Pond  Hill  school - 
house  until  about  1831,  when  the  City  schoolhouse  was 
built. 


Pond  Hill  District 


The  present  Pond  Hill  schoolhouse  was  built  in  the 
year  1822,  as  appears  from  the  following  vote: 

"  October  31,  1822.  A  regular  school  meeting  was 
"held  at  the  house  of  Thaddaus  Hotchkiss.  Voted 
"that  Thaddaus  Hotchkiss  be  elected  the  committy  of 
"the  Union  District.  The  meeting  appointed  Elias 
"  Ford,  Moderator,  pro  tern,  Agustus  Beebe,  Clerk,  and 
"  Elias  Ford,  Treasur.  Voted  that  a  tax  or  rate  be 
"laid  on  the  taxable  inhabitants  of  said  district  of 
"eight  cents  on  the  dollar,  on  list  of  1821,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  defraying  the  expense  of  building  a  school- 
"  house,  made  payable  the  first  day  of  December,  1822. 
"Voted  that  Wm.  H.  Hine  be  a  committy  to  finish 
' '  said  schoolhouse.  Voted  that  Elias  Ford,  John  Hop- 
"  kins  and  Thaddaus  Hotchkiss  be  a  committy  to  in- 
spect the  different  bills  presented  by  said  District, 
"and  also  to  make  such  abatements  on  taxes  as  they 
"  should  think  proper.  Voted  that  Orrin  Hotchkiss 
"be  a  collector  of  taxes  for  the  district  for  the  year 
"  ensuing.  Voted  that  Mr.  Clark  purchase  a  book  to 
"keep  the  records  of  this  district  school  meetings. 
"  Adjourned  till  the  third  Monday  in  November,  1822, 
"then  to  be  convened  at  Thaddaus  Hotchkiss  at  8 
"  o'clock  p.  m.  Attest, 

"Agustus  Beebe,  Clerk." 

At  at  school  meeting  held  November  28,  1822,  the 


POND  HILL  SCHOOL  DISTRICT.  33 

following  committee  were  appointed  to  report  By-Laws 
and  Rules  for  the  school :  Elias  Ford,  Josiah  Terrell 
and  Thaddeus  Hotchkiss.  The  meeting  adjourned  to 
meet  at  the  schoolhouse  on  the  6th  of  December,  1822, 
at  7  o'clock.  This  would  show  that  the  schoolhouse 
was  finished  about  this  time. 

At  a  school  meeting  held  December  6,  1822,  the 
committee  appointed  to  prepare  rules  and  by-laws  to 
govern  the  school  in  the  United  or  Pond  Hill  District, 
fully  realizing  the  great  importance  of  having  signed 
and  definite  Rules  and  By-Laws  to  properly  govern  the 
various  interests  of  the  district  and  to  protect  its  prop- 
erty, reported  the  following: 

"THE  RULES  AND  BY-LAWS  OF  THE  UNITED  DIS- 
TRICT IN  SALEM  SOCIETY. 

"  Article  1.  The  schoolhouse  in  said  district  be 
"  appropriated  solely  to  the  use  of  the  school  in  said 
"district  and  for  holding-  school  meetings  in  said  dis- 
"  trict,  and  for  no  other  purpose  except  by  the  consent 
"  of  a  committee  apointed  for  that  purpose. 

"  Article  2.  If  any  harm  is  done  to  the  house  by 
"  any  of  the  schollars  attending-  the  school  it  shall  be 
"  the  duty  of  the  teacher  to  inquire  into  and  Ascertain 
"  by  whom  it  was  done, and  give  notice  to  Parent, guar- 
"dian  or  master  of  said  schollars,  whos  duty  it  shall  be 
"  to  repair  sd  damage  done  by  sd  schollar,  and  if  sd 
"damages  is  not  repaired  by  the  Parent,  guardian  or 
••master  of  sd  schollar  within  six. days  after  notice, 
"  the  committee  of  sd  district  shall  repair  sd  house 
"and  bring  a  bill  for  the  same  against  the  Parent, 
"  guardian  or  master  of  the  schollar  by  whom  damage 
"is  done. 

"Article  3.  The  teacher  shall  have  liberty  to 
"make  good  and  wholeome  rules  for  the  g-overment 


34  EARLY  SCHOOLS  OP  NAUGATUCK. 

•"of  the  school  for  the  time  they  teach,  and  if  any 
"schollar  shall  not  comply  with  sd  rules  the  teacher 
"shall  inform  the  committee,  that  sd  schollar  may  be 
"dealt  with  as  the  law  directs. 

"Article  4.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  teacher 
"for  the  time  being  to  prohibit  all  scribling  or  any 
"impropriety  of  conduct  in  said  schoolhouse,  and  to 
"prohibit  the  schollars  from  entering  the  fields  of  any 
"of  the  neighbors  while  at  school  without  liberty  from 
"  the  teacher. 

"  Article  5.    The  key  of  sd  house  shall  at  all 
"times  be  kept  by  the  school  committee  except  in 
"  time  of  holding  school  in  sd  house,  then  the  key  shall 
"be  kept  by  the  teacher,  and  at  the  close  of  the  school 
"  given  up  to  the  committee. " 

According  to  Article  1,  it  was  voted  at  a  school 
meeting  held  December  15,  18^9,  to  appoint  a  committee 
consisting  of  Jared  Ford,  Elias  Ford  and  Win.  H.  Hine 
to  agree  on  what  conditions  any  religious  people  may 
hold  meetings  in  Union  District  schoolhouse. 

It  is  said  religious  meetings  were  held  from  time  to 
time  in  the  schoolhouse  and  that  a  number  of  young 
men  who  attended  those  meetings  often  joined  in  the 
singing  with  loud  voices  and  that  their  voices  were  not 
always  in  good  harmony  or  tune,  and  their  improper 
conduct  caused  much  comment.  Such  proceedings  may 
account  for  the  following  vote  at  a  school  meeting  held 
April  10,  1841: 

"  Voted  that  no  meetings  be  held  at  the  school- 
"  house  the  year  ensuing,  except  school  meetings." 

In  October,  1823,  they  voted  to  have  a  man  to  keep 
th«  school.     Voted  to  pay  not  to  exceed  10  dollars  per 


POND   HILL  SCHOOL  DISTRICT.  35 

month.  In  December,  1829,  voted  that  eight  shillings 
be  the  price  per  week  for  boarding  the  school  teacher 
for  this  winter  and  one  dollar  be  the  price  per  week 
next  summer  for  a  woman  teacher's  board.  In  April. 
1830,  decided  to  have  a  woman  teacher  four  months. 
Then  in  November,  1834.  they  voted  to  have  a  woman 
teacher  three  months  this  winter;  voted  to  pay  $1.25  for 
teacher's  board  this  winter  and  $1  for  next  summer. 
The  10th  of  April,  1841,  they  decided  that  the  teacher 
board  around,  according  to  the  number  of  scholars  sent. 
In  November,  1841,  the  price  of  the  teacher's  board  had 
risen  to  $1.50  per  week.  In  the  winter  of  1843  they  em- 
ployed a  man  teacher  for  three  months.  In  1844  the 
committee  allowed  $1.50  for  a  man  teacher  per  week  and 
only  $1.25  for  a  female  teacher.  In  1849  they  hired  a 
man  teacher  for  three  months,  not  to  pay  over  $16.00 
per  month. 

It  appears  that  the  schoolhouse  was  heated  by  a 
stove,  for  we  find  this  vote  on  the  records  November  8. 
1822: 

'•  Voted  that  the  sum  of  oak   wood  be  two  dollars 
' '  per  cord  chopped  fine  tor  the  stove. ' ' 

In  November,  1841,  the  price  of  oak  wood  had  ad- 
vanced to  $4.00  per  cord  and  the  school  committee  paid 
$5.00  for  walnut  wood  per  cord,  fitted  for  the  stove.  In 
November,  1844,  voted  that  the  price  of  wood  for  use  of 
school  for  ensuing  year  be  $3. 75  per  cord  for  oak  and 
$4.75  for  walnut,  said  wood  to  be  marketable  and  fitted 
to  the  stove. 

It  appears  that  the  people  living  in  those  days  knew 
some  of  the  points  about  wood,  for  they  put  in  the  word 


36  EARLY  SCHOOLS  OF  NAU&ATUCK. 

marketable  in  their  vote.  In  the  year  1849  the  commit- 
tee were  to  pay  $4.00  for  oak  wood  and  $5.00  for  walnut, 
said  wood  to  be  (mark  the  language)  marketable,  and 
fitted  for  the  stove. 

It  appears  that  for  a  number  of  years  (just  how  long 
it  is  somewhat  difficult  now  to  determine)  the  children 
residing  in  what  is  now  Union  City  attended  school  in 
what  is  now  Pond  Hill  schoolhouse.  It  was  called  in 
the  records  as  the  Union,  and  sometimes  the  United 
school  district.     At  a  meeting  held  February  16,  1830: 

"  Voted  to  petition  Salem  society  to  be  divided  in- 
"  to  two  districts.' * 

The  vote  stood  12  to  20.  I  cannot  find  in  the  Salem 
Society  records  that  the  society  took  up  this  matter,  and 
it  is  presumed  that  they  did  nothing  about  it,  as  at  that 
time  the  districts  were  left  generally  to  manage  their 
own  affairs;  but  the  separation  took  place  as  shown  by 
the  following  vote,  taken  December  2,  1830: 

"  Voted  that  the  district  committee  be  authorized 
"  to  collect  whatever  money  is  due  from  the  new  dis- 
"  trict  which  they  have  not  paid  over." 

The  question  of  making  repairs  soon  became  an  im- 
portant matter  and  one  would  think  that  the  district 
committee  were  somewhat  slow  in  carrying  out  the 
votes  passed  relating  to  that  matter.  About  the  year 
1842  the  demands  for  repairs  on  the  schoolhouse  were 
voted.     Then  in  October,  1846: 

"  Voted  that  the  committee  make  suitable  repairs 
11  on  the  schoolhouse." 


POND  HILL  SCHOOL  DISTRICT.  37 

On  October  26,  1847,  another  demand  for  repairs  on 
the  same  schoolhouse.  The  next  year,  viz.  1848,  voted 
suitable  repairs  again.  At  a  meeting  held  October, 
1850,  still  clamorous  for  repairs.  About  this  time  the 
Pond  Hll  district  consolidated  and  I  presume  the  repair 
question  was  adjusted. 

The  Pond  Hill  district  was  no  exception  to  the  oth- 
er districts,  for  the  lock  would  get  out  of  order  (perhaps 
the  boys  knew);  so  at  a  meeting  held  April,  1841,  it  was 
voted  that  the  committee  furnish  lock  and  key. 

Of  the  many  school  committees  for  the  district  No. 
3  (now  Pond  Hill  district),  were  the  following:  Thad- 
deus  Hotchkiss  in  the  year  1822;  at  a  meeting  held  De- 
cember 6,  1822,  Augustus  Beebe,  Julius  Porter  and  Hez- 
ekiah  Hine  were  elected  district  committee.  In  1829 
William  H.  Hine.  Julius  Porter  and  Marshal  Sanford 
served  as  district  committee.  The  following  persons 
also  served  as  district  committee:  John  Hopkins  in  the 
years  1841  and  1847,  Truman  Hopkins  in  1842,  Samuel 
Hopkins  in  1843,  William  H.  Hine  in  1844,  Burr  John- 
son in  1845,  Horace  Smith  in  1846,  Lucius  Baldwin  in 
1848,  Chauncey  Wedge  in  1849.  Henry  Patterson  in  1850 
and  John  Bird  in  the  year  1852. 

The  popular  man  for  clerk  appears  to  have  been 
Mr.  Burr  Johnson,  for  he  was  elected  clerk  in  1823.  I 
have  seen  no  record  from  October  20,  1823,  until  De- 
cember 15.  1829.  Mr.  Johnson  may  have  been  clerk 
during  this  time.  Mr.  Johnson  served  as  clerk  contin- 
uously from  1841  to  1852  inclusive,  and  perhaps  longer. 

The  district  treasurers  were  Elias  Ford,  who  served 
in  the  years  of  1822  and    1823,  Linas   Stevens  in  1829, 


38  EARLY  SCHOOLS  OP  NAUGATUCK. 

William  H.  Hine  in  1841,  '42  and '43;  John  Hopkins  filled 
that  office  in  the  year  1844,  Samuel  Hopkins  in  the  year 
1845.  Burr  Johnson  was  elected  both  clerk  and  treas- 
urer in  October,  1846,  and  Samuel  Hopkins  again  dur- 
ing the  years  of  1847,  '48  '49  and  1850;  Lewis  Russell 
was  elected  in  December.  1852;  Orrin  Hotchkiss  was 
elected  collector  in  October,  1822.  Some  of  his  succes- 
sors were  John  Hopkins,  Truman  Hopkins,  Samuel 
Hopkins,  Chauncey  Wedge  and  John  Bird. 

Some  of  the  teachers  who  taught  in  the  Pond  Hill 
schoolhouse  now  standing  (1906)  were:  Miss  Minerva 
Grilley  (daughter  of  Silas)  who  taught  about  the  year 
1828;  Miss  Angeline  Porter,  who  taught  aboutl829.  (she 
afterward  removed  West);  Miss  Esther  Candee,  about 
the  year  1832;  Miss  Ann  Hickox  (daughter  of  Austin), 
taught  perhaps  in  1833;  Miss  Mary  Vidocia  Hotchkiss, 
about  the  year  1836;  Miss  Mary  Mills,  about  1837;  Miss 
Eunice  Hill  (daughter  of  Samuel  and  Polly  Hill) ;  Miss 
Eliza  Grilley  (daughter  of  Silas),  Miss  Martha  Beecher, 
Miss  Eliza  Ann  Benham,  Miss  Eliza  Tillou  (daughter  of 
John),  Mr.  Sturdevant,  Mr.  Eithel  Holmes,  Mr.  Robert 
Hine  (son  of  Harlow),  Miss  Augusta  Hine,  1846  (daugh- 
ter of  Richard),  Misses  Marion  and  Martha  Hotchkiss 
(daughters  of  Oscar),  Mr.  Clark,  Mr.  Tuttle  from  Beth- 
any, and  John  Bird. 

Many  of  those  teachers  named  are  well  remembered 
by  those  now  living.  Without  any  individual  mention, 
it  is  believed  that  all  worked  faithfully  for  the  good  of 
their  scholars,  and  did  themselves  honor  by  their  efforts 
to  improve  the  young  people  committed  to  their  care. 

The  Pond  Hill  School  district,  in  the  year  1851,  en- 


POND  HILL  SCHOOL  DISTRICT. 


tered  into  the  consolidation,  forming  the  Union  Center 
School  district,  but  they  withdrew  in  the  year  1867,  and 
since  that  date  have  been  legally  independent. 


Partridgetown  School  District 


I  have  seen  no  layout  of  Partridgetown  district.  It 
appears  to  have  been  the  territory  lying  northerly  from 
the  Lewistown  district.  It  is  first  mentioned  in  the 
Salem  Society  records  at  a  meeting  held  on  February 
10.  1794. 

"Voted  that  Mr.  Jonah  Woodruff  and  Mr.  John 
"Smith  be  set  to  the  South  or  Lewis  district  for 
"schooling'.  Voted  that  Samuel  Porter  be  chosen 
"school  committee  and  collector  for  the  Partridge- 
"town  district." 

The  first  mention  of  a  schoolhouse  in  Partridgetown 
is  found  in  Waterbury  highway  records  February  6, 
1778,  when  the  town  paid  Reuben  Williams  for  land 
taken  for  a  highway  near  the  schoolhouse.  I  under- 
stand that  this  schoolhouse  referred  to  may  be  the  house 
that  once  stood  at  or  near  the  Bennett  Beebe  place  (the 
junction  of  King  street).  Later  another  schoolhouse 
was  erected  on  the  northerly  side  of  the  road  leading 
by  the  house  where  one  John  Frink  now  (1904)  lives. 
Said  schoolhouse  was  located  between  60  and  75  rods 
westerly  of  said  house,  and  at  a  point  on  the  northerly 
side  of  this  road,  there  being  a  well  of  water  in  the  lot 
northerly  of  the  schoolhouse  place.  A  school  was  main- 
tained here  until  about  the  year  1838,  when  the  old 
schoolhouse  was  moved  near  the  house  of  Mr.  Bezaleel 


PARTRIDGETOWN  SCHOOL  DISTRICT.  41 

Scott,  and  was  used  by  him  for  many  years  for  other 
than  school  purposes. 

Some  of  the  teachers  in  the  second  schoolhouse 
were:  Mr.  William  Curtis  of  Middlebury,  Mr.  Emory 
Mann,  Miss  Amanda  Stevens,  Mr.  Samuel  Hopkins, 
about  1836,  and  others.  Sometime  after  1838  a  new 
schoolhouse  was  built,  I  am  informed,  by  money  raised 
by  subscription.  The  new  and  last  schoolhouse  built  in 
the  district  of  Partridgetown  was  located  near  the  junc- 
tion of  two  roads,  one  leading  by  the  house  formerly 
known  as  the  Atwater  place,  the  other  leading  down 
past  the  house  of  Charles  O.  Wedge.  The  above  house 
was  used  for  school  purposes  until  Partridgetown  dis- 
trict was  consolidated  in  1851  with  the  Lewistown,  Union 
City,  Center  and  Pond  Hill  districts,  under  the  name  of 
the  Union  Center  School  district.  The  last  schoolhouse 
was  sold  to  one  Andrew  Brennan,  and  moved  by  Thomas 
Scott  on  a  sled  about  the  year  1862  or  '63,  and  was  placed 
on  a  cellar  at  what  is  now  known  as  the  junction  of 
Bridge  and  Coal  streets,  and  is  occupied  as  a  dwelling 
house.  Afterwards  Union  City  and  Pond  Hill  withdrew 
from  the  consolidation,  but  Partridgetown  and  Lewis- 
town  remained  with  the  Center.  At  the  time  of  the 
consolidation  John  Nichols  and  John  A.  Smith,  the  lat- 
ter living  in  the  house  known  as  the  Frick  house  and 
the  former  living  in  the  Sykes  house,  were  annexed  to 
the  Millville  district.  Some  of  the  teachers  who  taught 
in  the  last  house  in  Partridgetown  were:  Miss  Nancy 
Beardsley  (daughter  of  Wm.  D.),  who  taught  before 
1849,  Miss  Lucy  Thayer  and  others. 


Southwest  School  District 


The  following  extract  from  Colonial  records,  Octo- 
ber, 1774,  gives  the  first  information  concerning  the  or- 
ganization of  the  Southwest  School  District: 

"Upon  the  memorial  of  Enos  Gunn,  Ebenezer 
'  Scott,  Sarah  Gunn,  Jobamah  Gunn,  Abel  Gunn, 
1  David  Wooster,  John  Weed.  Noah  Cande,  Ebenezer 
'Osborn,  Thomas  Osborn  and  Nathaniel  Gunn,  pray- 
'  ing  for  the  privilege  of  a  school  district,  beginning 
'at  a  stake  called  Twelve  Mile  Stake,  in  the  line  be- 
k  tween  Derby  and  Waterbury,  then  running  north- 
'  wardly  to  the  sawmill  place  near  Daniel  Williams', 
'  then  to  the  northeast  corner  of  Jobamah  Gunn's 
'  farm,  from  thence  northwestwardly  to  a  bridge  near 
1  where  Mishaduck  Brook  runs  out  of  the  meadow, 
'then  west  to  Woodbury  line,  then  southward  to  the 
'  southwest  corner  of  Waterbury,  then  to  first  corner. 

"Resolved  by  this  assembly,  That  the  inhabitants 
'  living-  within  the  said  prescribed  limits  and  bounds, 
'  except  Abraham  Lewis  and  Daniel  Osborn,  shall  be 
'and  they  are  hereby  constituted  a  school  district, 
'  with  all  the  privileges  and  emoluments  usually  be- 
'  longing  to  school  districts  in  this  Colony;  and  said 
'  Abraham  Lewis  and  Daniel  Osborn  have  liberty  to 
'  belong  to  said  district  or  not,  at  their  election.  And 
'said  inhabitants  are  hereby  authorized  and  empow- 
'ered  to  lay  taxes  by  the  major  vote  of  the  inhabit- 
'  ants  legally  met.  for  the  purpose  of  raising  monies  to 
'  maintain  a  school  in  said  district,  and  to  appoint  offi- 
'  cer9  to  collect  the  same,  which  shall  be  under  the 


SOUTHWEST  SCHOOL  DISTRICT.  43 

"same  regulations  that  officers  are  who  are  appointed 
"by  societies  in  this  Colony." 

Although  the  schoolhouse  in  the  Southwest  district 
was  located  a  little  over  the  line  and  in  the  town  of  Mid- 
dlebury,  after  that  town  was  incorporated,  yet  a  large 
number  of  its  scholars  resided  in  what  is  now  Naugatuck, 
thus  making  it  in  one  sense  a  Naugatuck  school.  I  have 
the  good  fortune  to  find  a  record  of  the  school  meetings 
in  this  district  from  December,  1776,  to  and  including  Oc- 
tober, 1817.  The  records  of  the  school  meetings,  com- 
pared with  those  of  a  later  date,  seem  strange  and  in- 
teresting.    The  record  of  the  first  meeting  is  as  follows: 

"  Decemberthe  4,  A.  D.,1776.  At  a  school  meeting 
"Enos  Gunn  was  chosen  school  comitity,  at  the  same 
"  meeting  Abel  Gunn  was  chosen  collector." 

In  1782  I  find  the  following: 

"  Waterbury,  November  the  25  Day,  A.  D.,  1782,  in 
"  the  Soweft  Deftrict,  then  opened  the  school  Meating 
"  and  ajourned  untill  the  first  Tuefday  off  December, 
"and  then  opened  the  Meating  acording  to  ajourn- 
"ment  And  Ebenezer  Scott  chofen  moderator  and 
"  Benjamin  Welton  chofen  dark  and  Jobamah  Gunn 
"was  chofen  school  committe,  and  at  the  same  met- 
"ing  Ebenezer  Scott  chofen  School  committee  and 
"Simeon  Beebe  was  chofen  collector  and  voted  to  ceap 
"thre  months  winter  school  and  Voted  to  Pole  by  the 
"month  and  the  meting  Difmift." 

At  a  later  meeting,  held  April,  1799,  they  voted  to 
sell  the  old  schoolhouse.  They  met  on  April  11-  and 
made  the  following  record: 

"The  11th  April,  179»,  then  Sold  the  old  »ehool- 


44  EARLY  SCHOOLS  OF  NAUGATUCK. 

"houfeat  pubblic  Vandue  to  Mr.  Amos  Johnfon  for 
' '  the  conf ideration  of  Six  Dollars  payable  on  Demand. ' ' 

After  Middlebury  was  made  a  town,  they  changed 
the  record.  At  a  meeting  held  the  following  February 
we  find  the  following  record: 

"  Middlebury  February  24th  A.  D.  1808,  in  Gun- 
"town  District.  At  a  school  meeting-  warned  and 
"opened  acording-  to  law,  Mr.  Noah  Scovil  chosen 
"Moderator,  and  Mr.  Daniel  Wooster  Clerk  P.  Tern, 
"etc.  Voted  to  tax  the  inhabitance  of  this  district, 
"that  sent  to  the  winter  school  A.  D.  1807,  three  Cents 
"per  day  on  the  polls  of  the  schollars  to  defray  theex- 
"pense  of  said  school.  Also  Voted  as  above  two  Cents 
"eight  mills  per  day  upon  the  poll  to  defray  the  ex- 
"pense  of  the  summer  school  A.  D.  1807,  etc.  Voted 
"that  Mr.  Miles  Loveland  be  empowered  to  lay  tax. 
"Voted  to  dissolve  this  meeting. 

"Daniel  Wooster,  Clerk,  Pro  Tern." 

The  first  schoolhouse  is  believed  to  have  been  erect- 
soon  after  the  Southwest  district  was  incorporated  in 
1774.  The  first  and  second  schoolhouses  were  built  in 
the  limits  of  the  town  of  Waterbury;  but  when  the  town 
of  Middlebury  was  incorporated,  1807,  its  line  was  es- 
tablished a  little  east  of  the  schoolhouse.  The  first 
house  was  probably  a  small  building,  for  in  a  motion  to 
build  mention  is  made  of  a  house  20x16  feet,  which  was 
probably  the  size  of  the  old  one.  The  first  schoolhouse 
soon  wanted  repairs,  for  in  1791  they  voted  to  repair  the 
chimney.  The  same  year  they  voted  to  build  a  shool- 
house,  that  it  should  be  20x16  feet  on  the  ground,  and 
appointed  Silas  Lewis,  Samuel  Gunn  and  Amos  Scott, 
Jun. ,  to  take  care  of  the  building  of  said  house.     But 


SOUTHWEST  SCHOOL  DISTRICT.  45 

the  schoolhouse  was  not  built  and  it  appears  that  they 
held  their  meetings  at  a  private  house,  and  in  1793  they 
voted  to  keep  a  school  in  Samuel  Gunn's  store.  There 
had  been  trouble  about  the  location  of  the  new  house, 
some  of  the  committee  being  opposed  to  the  old  location. 
But  at  meeting  held  in  December,  1798,  they  appointed 
a  new  building  committne,  viz.,  Thomas  Osborn,  Jun., 
Amos  Johnson  and  Daniel  Wooster,  to  take  care  of  the 
business  of  building  said  house.  (It  is  noticed  that  the 
name  of  Gunn  does  not  appear.)  The  house  was  to  be 
set  near  the  old  site  and  the  schoolhouse  was  to  be  30x18 
feet.  Now  things  began  to  move,  for  the  next  April 
they  sold  the  old  schoolhouse.  The  3d  of  March,  1800, 
at  a  meeting  held  at  the  schoolhouse,  voted,  etc.  I  have 
found  persons  now  living  who  attended  school  in  the 
house  referred  to  above.  I  am  informed  that  it  had  at 
each  end  a  large  fireplace.  This  schoolhouse  was  locat- 
ed on  the  very  spot  where  now  stands  the  horse  shed 
owned  by  Mr.  Henry  Bradley.  But  like  all  the  school - 
houses  it  needed  repairs,  for  at  a  meeting  held  October, 
1814,  they  voted  repairs,  such  as  the  fireplace,  setting 
new  glass,  fixing  the  clapboards,  plastering,  etc.,  not 
forgetting  the  lock.  Mr.  Isaac  Twitchell  was  appointed 
a  committee  to  furnish  a  lock  and  place  it  on  the  outside. 
None  of  the  boys  meddled  with  the  lock  while  Mr. 
Twitchell  was  about.  In  order  to  pacify  Mr.  Gunn  for 
locating  the  schoolhouse  near  his  land,  they  passed  on 
the  11th  of  April,  1799,  the  following: 

"Voted  and  mutially  agreed  to  keep  them  chil- 
"dren  out  of  Enos  Gunn's  Lotts,  so  that  shant  re- 
ceive any  Damage  by  the  schoolhouse  being  Set  ad- 


46  EARLY  SCHOOLS  OP  NAUGATUCK. 

"joining  Said  Gunn's  Land,  and  if  they  Doos  said  Gunn 
"any  Damage  the  Children  that  Does  it  their  parents 
"or  Guarideans  shall  pay  all  Damages  that  Shall  Rise 
"by  the  school  house  being  Set  adjoining  Said  Gunn's 
"Land  to  his  full  Satisfaction,  and  the  meeting  Dif- 
"mist." 

The  winter  term  of  schooling  was  from  three  to  four 
months,  and  the  summer  term  from  four  to  five  months. 

They  fixed  the  price  of  wood  from  time  to  time.  In 
1793  they  paid  $1  per  cord,  in  1802  ten  shillings,  in  1805 
they  paid  the  same  price,  but  it  must  be  good  sound 
wood,  and  measured  by  the  schoolmaster.  In  1806  they 
paid  only  eighl  shillings,  then  up  to  ten  shillings  and 
ten  pence;  up  it  went  to  $1.50,  and  in  1811  it  had  reached 
the  price  of  11.67  per  cord.  All  the  wood  must  be  cut 
out  fit  for  the  fire.  The  price  of  board  for  a  man  teach- 
er was  $1.25  per  week,  and  for  a  woman  teacher  was  $1 
for  the  same  time.  In  February.  1808,  the  school  com- 
mittee passed  the  following: 

"  Voted  that  the  committee  hire  a  woman  teacher 
"for  a  price  not  exceding  one  dollar  per  week,  and 
"upon  conditions  that  if  the  District  is  dissatisfied,  she 
"shall  leave  the  school  upon  request  at  any  time,  also 
"if  she  is  uneasy  she  shall  have  the  liberty  to  go  at 
"her  pleasure." 

The  pay  for  a  man  teacher  was  $1.25  per  week.  At 
a  meeting  held  in  November.  1792: 

"Voted  to  give  the  Committee  Difcrefsiouary  or- 
"der  to  hire  a  Mafter  and  Dame,  and  thbe  meeting 
"Difolvd." 

I  have  been  able  to  learn  the  names  of  a  few  of  the 
teachers  who  taught  in  the  Southwest  District  school. 


SOUTHWEST   SCHOOL  DISTRICT.  47 

TheywereMr.  Isaac  Judd,  Jr., about  1794,  MrlraBlakes- 
lee,  soon  after  1806,  Mr.  Leverett  Candee,  about  the 
year  1813,  Miss  Eliza  Smith  (sister  of  Elisha),  perhaps  in 
1828,  Miss  Mary  Spencer  (daughter  of  Aansel),  Miss 
Maria  Bronson  from  Middlebury,  Miss  Abigail  Hunting- 
ton, and  Miss  Eliza  Leavenworth,  who  it  is  said  was  the 
last  teacher  in  the  Gunntown  school.  I  give  some  of 
the  names  of  those  persons  who  served  as  district  com- 
mittee between  1776  and  1818,  as  it  shows  who  the  lead- 
ing men  were  that  lived  in  the  district  at  that  time. 

In  1776  Enos  Gunn  was  elected  school  committee; 
his  successor  was  Jobamah  Gunn  in  1777, 1781, 1792  and 
1810;  Ebenezer  Scott  in  1779  and  1780;  Thomas  Osborn 
in  1783  and  1797;  Ebenezer  Osborn  in  1784:  Daniel  Finch 
in  1786  and  1787;  Silas  Lewis  in  1787;  Samuel  Harris  in 
1789;  Samuel  Gunn  in  1791;  Timothy  Scovill,  Jr.,  in  1793; 
John  Scott  in  1796;  Abel  Gunn  in  1800;  Moses  Johnson 
in  1801;  Isaac  Twitchell  in  1803;  Isaac  Briggs  in  1804; 
Samuel  Twitchell  in  1805;  Noah  Scovill  in  1806;  Miles 
Loveland  in  1807;  Samuel  Bartis  in  1808;  Iraa  Nichols 
in  1809;  Thomas  Leavenworth  in  1811;  Isaac  Gunn  in 
1812;  Arnold  Loveland  in  1813;  Noah  Candee  in  1814; 
Truman  Davis  elected  committe,  collector  and  treasurer 
in  1815;  Silas  Gunn  in  1816,  and  Joseph  N.  Wardin  1817. 
Ebenezer  Scott  is  the  first  clerk  mentioned,  elected  in 
1778  and  1779,  in  the  record  that  I  have,  which  begins 
in  1776.  Benj.  Welton  served  as  clerk  four  years;  Giles 
Lewis  in  1786;  Samuel  Gunn  1787  and  1793;  Simeon 
Beebe  for  two  years;  Noah  Scovill  for  three  years;  James 
D.  Wooster  in  1802,  '03,  '04  and  '05,  also  1807,  '08  and 
'10;  Larmon  Townson  in  1806;  Ira  K.  Smith  in  1809;  Ar- 


48  EARLY  SCHOOLS  OP  NAUGATUCK. 

nold  Loveland,  who  filled  that  office  for  three  years; 
Theophilus  Baldwin  in  1813  and  '14,  and  Lyman  Riggs  in 
1816  and  '17,  the  last  I  have  in  the  record.  The  record  does 
not  mention  a  treasurer  before  1799;  Daniel  Wooster  was 
elected  for  that  year  and  served  several  terms;  Noah 
Scovill  served  as  treasurer  for  several  years.  The  per- 
sons named  as  serving  as  district  committee,  at  least 
some  of  them,  also  were  collectors  from  time  to  time. 
I  find  one  new  name,  that  is  John  Sutton,  who  was  elect- 
ed collector  in  1808.  At  the  district  meeting  held  Octo- 
ber, 1817,  they  concentrated  all  the  offices  by  electing 
Joseph  N.  Ward  committee,  collector  and  treasurer.  It 
is  the  first  time  that  his  name  appears,  and  they  honored 
him  with  all  the  offices.  In  1808  the  district  elected 
what  they  called  an  inspecting  committee.  I  suppose 
that  they  visited  the  school.  In  the  year  1808  the  dis- 
trict appointed  the  Rev.  Chauncey  Prindle,  Arnold 
Loveland  and  Theophilus  Baldwin  as  inspecting  com- 
mittee. 

The    Southwest  School  District  was  dissolved,  as 
appears  by  the  following  : 

"May  session,  1836. 

"Resolved  that  the  southwest  school  district  in 
"Waterbury  be  dissolved  and  disannuled,  and  that  the 
"inhabitants  residing  within  the  town  of  Waterbury 
"and  within  the  limits  of  said  district  be,  and  they  are 
"  hereby,  annexed  to  the  second  school  society  in  Wa- 
"  terbury,  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  of  Middle- 
"bury  residing  within  the  local  limits  of  said  school 
"district  be,  and  they  are  hereby,  annexed  to  the 
"  school  society  in  Middlebury,  and  the  inhabitants  of 
"  the  town  of  Oxford  residing  within  the  local  limits 


SOUTHWEST  SCHOOL  DISTRICT.  49 

"of  said  school  district  be.  and  they  are  hereby,  an- 
"nexed  to  the  school  society  in  Oxford." 

The  organization  of  the  Millville  School  District 
soon  followed,  as  that  district  had  erected  a  schoolhouse 
as  early  as  1838. 


Millville  School  District. 


When  the  Southwest  School  District  was  dissolved 
by  the  General  Assembly  in  May,  1836,  it  was  then  or- 
dered that  the  inhabitants  in  the  limits  of  said  district 
belonging  to  Waterbury  be,  and  hereby  are,  annexed  to 
the  second  school  society  in  Waterbury.  As  the  second 
school  society  was  in  the  bounds  of  Salem,  so  it  came 
under  the  same  government  as  the  other  districts  in 
Salem  society.  I  suppose  that  a  portion  of  the  inhabit- 
ants of  Partridgetown  and  those  formerly  living  in  the 
Southwest  District,  met  and  formed  a  new  district,  and 
named  it  Millville  District.  I  have  seen  no  record  to 
that  effect,  but  the  way  it  was  mentioned  above  would 
seem  probable. 

We  may  suppose  that  they  would  soon  erect  a 
schoolhouse.  Probably  the  first  schoolhouse  in  Mill- 
ville District  was  erected  as  soon  as  1838,  as  Mrs.  Hart 
C.  Hubbell  informs  me  that  she  attended  school  there  in 
the  new  schoolhouse  in  the  year  mentioned  above. 

The  first  schoolhouse  stood  at  the  junction  of  the 
road  leading  by  the  house  of  the  late  Mr.  Comfort  Hub- 
bell,  and  the  road  leading  past  the  house  formerly  known 
as  the  Charles  Osborn  house  in  Millville,  and  at  the 
southeast  corner. 

On  the  2d  of  November,  1865,  Clara  Smith,  Theo- 
dore A.Smith,  Samuel  Piatt  and  Eliza  J.  Smith  conveyed 
to  the  Millville  School  District  forty-six  rods  of  land  to 


MILLVILLE  SCHOOL  DISTRICT.  51 

be  used  for  school  purposes.  Upon  the  above  mentioned 
land  the  second  schoolhouse  in  Millville  was  built.  Prob- 
ably before  August  in  1866,  for  in  the  month  of  August 
of  that  year  the  district  sold  to  the  Naugatuck  Wheel 
Company  the  first  schoolhouse,  with  the  land  on  which 
it  stood.  This  o'd  schoolhouse  is  now  standing  on  its 
original  site,  being  now  (1906)  the  upper  part  of  a  dwell- 
ing house.  About  the  year  1894  the  second  schoolhouse 
had  to  go,  and  make  room  for  a  more  modern  and  larger 
one,  which  is  now  (1906)  in  use.  The  second  school - 
house  was  moved  across  the  street  and  placed  a  little 
west  of  the  first;  and  there  they  stand  to-day,  changed 
somewhat,  but  the  same  old  frames.  Truly  th  ;y  have 
outlived  their  usefulness  as  schoolhouses,  but  in  their 
old  age  they  are  not  separated.  I  doubt  if  there  is  an- 
other school  district  in  New  England  that  has  saved  all 
of  their  old  schoolhouses. 

It  is  said  that  Truman  Davis  was  the  first  district 
committee.  In  1845  Henry  Hull  was  school  committee. 
I  can  only  give  the  names  of  some  of  the  teachers,  who 
had  the  privilege  to  care  for  the  education  of  the  young 
people  of  Millville.  Among  those  worthy  persons  were 
the  following  (although  probably  not  in  their  proper 
order):  Mr.  Sylvester  Hine  in  1838  or  '39;  Miss  Sarah 
Bronson  (daughter  of  Horace);  Miss  Elizabeth  Wooster 
(sister  of  Eben) ;  Miss  Sarah  Meloy.  before  1845;  Miss 
Julia  Cables,  from  Oxford;  Mr.  Luther  Piatt,  from  Mid- 
dlebury;  Miss  Frances  Clark  (daughter  of  Nathan);  Miss 
Nancy  Beardsley  (daughter  of  Win.  D.)  before  1850; 
Miss  Sarah  Tuttle  (daughter  of  Daniel);  Mr.  W.  S.  Skil- 
ton,  from  Watertown;  Miss  Louisa  Piatt;  Mr.  Nelson  J. 


52  EARLY  SCHOOLS  OP  NAUGATUCK. 

Wei  ton,  1850  and  1851;  Miss  Curtiss.  George  B.  Bris- 
tol, M.  D.,  now  residing  in  Waterbury,  writes  that  he 
taught  school  in  Millville  School  District  in  the  winter 
term  of  1857  and  '58.  He  says  the  school  at  that  time 
consisted  of  20  girls  and  18  boys..  Mr.  Robert  Hine 
(son  of  Harlow);  Miss  Pangoman;  Miss  Esther  Gunn; 
Mr.  H.  Wales  Lines  (son  of  Henry);  Mr.  William  Hine 
(son  of  Harlow);  Miss  Esther  Wooster  (daughter  of 
Jesse);  Miss  Grace  Wooster  (daughter  of  Jesse);  Miss 
Julia  Tomlinson;  Miss  Emily  Smith  (daughter  of  Hor- 
ace); Miss  Harriet  Scott  (daughter  of  Isaac);  Miss  Kate 
Woodward  (daughter  of  Dr.  Woodward);  Miss  May  Brad- 
ley; Miss  Sarah  Piatt  (sister  of  Samuel);  Mr.  Charles 
Riggs,  from  Oxford;  Mr.  Melville  Wood;  Mr.  Nelson 
Wood;  Miss  Lucy  Perkins;  Mr.  Henry  C.  Baldwin  (son 
of  Lucius);  Miss  Augusta  Tuller  (daughter  of  Nelson). 
By  the  kindness  of  Mr.  Newell  A.  Smith  I  am  permitted 
to  copy  the  following: 

ROLL,  OF   SCHOLARS  ATTENDING    THE    MILLVILLE    DIS- 
TRICT  SCHOOL,  NAUGATUCK,  IN   THE   WIN- 
TER OF   1850-51. 

Females.  Males. 

Emeline  Osborn,  Horace  N.  Williams, 

Ellen  Osborn,  Henry  H.  Smith, 

Eliza  R.  Smith,  Edwin  Beers, 

Ellen  Nichols,  Edward  Nichols, 

Emily  Nichols,  Charles  H.  Hine, 

Eliza  L.  Osborn,  Hubert  Beers, 

*Melissa  A.  Bradley,  William  H.  Williams, 

Louisa  A.  Smith,  Anson  T.  Sperry, 

Jennett  A.  Smith,  Edwin  J.  Hull, 

Betsey,  J.  Smith,  John  Slater, 


MILLVILLE  SCHOOL  DISTRICT. 


Catherine  E.  Wooster, 
Julia  E.  Williams, 
Cordelia  A.  Gunn, 
Celestia  A.  Whittlesey, 
Mary  J.  Riggs, 
Sarah  J.  Hull, 
Ann  E.  Davis, 
Edna  M.  Osborn, 
*Cornelia  Marks, 
Frances  Gunn, 
Adelaid  A.  Chadwick, 
*Emeline  A.  Smith, 
Agusta  A.  Hull, 
Anna  M.  White, 
Emergene  Hull, 
Ellen  E.  Riggs, 
Jane  M.  Nichols, 
Harriet  Nichols, 
Rebecca  Williams, 
Elizabeth  Smith, 
Maria  M.  Chadwick, 
Sarah  Duffa, 
Elizabeth  Duffa. 

Term  of  five  months. 


George  Nichols, 
Ephraim  Wooster, 
Milo  Osborn, 
♦Thomas  J.  Tvvitchell, 
Franklin  S.  Nichols, 
*Noyes  G.  Bradley, 
Edward  P.  Smith, 
James  White, 
Sherman  E.  Williams, 
John  L.  Nichols, 
Nelson  R.  Nichols, 
George  Riggs, 
Patrick  Chadwick, 
Charles  W.  Hubbell, 
Philander  W.  Smith, 
Frederick  Nichols, 
Edwin  D.  Hull. 

Males 27 

Females 33 

Total 60 

*Out  of  district. 

NELSON  J.  WELTON,  Instructor. 


City  School  District 


The  boundaries  of  the  City  School  District  were  not 
very  clearly  defined  by  the  records  of  Salem  Society. 
The  City  District  appears  to  be  that  portion  of  Salem 
Society  lying  northerly  and  westerly  of  the  school  dis- 
tricts laid  out  in  the  years  of  1777  and  1790,  viz. :  The 
Center  and  the  first  Pond  Hill  Districts;  also  that  part 
west  of  the  river  and  east  of  Partridge  town.  I  have  not 
been  able  to  find  any  record  of  the  City  District  lines,  of 
any  date  before  1830.  The  schoolhouse  mentioned  in 
the  town  records  in  1794  was  probably  used  by  the  chil- 
dren then  residing  in  the  territory  later  called  the  City. 
This  schoolhouse  was  located  on  the  upper  corner  of  the 
road  leading  to  the  Burr  Johnson  place,  at  the  junction 
of  the  Deep  Hollow  road,  now  called  Pond  Hill  road. 
The  record  in  Waterbury  says  that: 

"The  parties  who  were  establishing  a  line,  divid- 
ing the  land,  started  at  a  heap  of  stones  near  the 
"highway,  and  near  to  whare  a  schoolhouse  formerly 
"stood,"  etc. 

This  word  "  formerly  "  has  puzzled  me  somewhat. 
I  usually  stand  by  the  record,  but  in  this  case  all  the  in- 
formation that  I  can  obtain  from  old  people  now  living, 
goes  to  prove  that  the  old  schoolhouse  stood  on  the  cor- 
ner until  about  the  time  that  the  present  schoolhouse 


CITY  SCHOOL  DISTRICT.  55 

was  built  on  Pond  Hill,  which  was  in  the  year  1822. 
This  would  give  the  people  in  what  is  now  Union  City 
a  schoolhouse  from  1794  to  1822.  I  informed  a  friend 
of  my  trouble  about  the  history  of  this  schoolhouse.  He 
said  that  there  was  one  way  to  harmonize  the  record 
with  the  tradition  that  the  schoolhouse  was  destroyed 
by  fire  and  all  the  other  traditions.  Suppose  that  this 
schoolhouse  was  destroyed  by  fire  before  1794  and  re- 
built soon  after  that  year,  and  was  used  until  about  the 
year  1822,  and  then  a  part  of  it  used  in  the  new  building. 
This  is  an  ingenious  supposition,  and  it  may  all  have 
happened.  But  I  have  not  the  evidence  to  prove  it,  and 
I  lack  the  information  to  successfully  contradict  it. 

Persons  now  living  remember  that  children  living 
at  the  City  attended  school  at  the  present  Pond  Hill 
schoolhouse  from  1826  to  about  1830.  The  Pond  Hill 
records  mention  the  name  of  Union  or  United  District. 
Probably  children  living  at  the  City  attended  school  at 
Pond  Hill  after  that  schoolhouse  was  built  in  1822  until 
about  the  year  1830,  when  the  new  City  District  was 
formed.  The  schoolhouse  in  the  City  District  was  prob- 
ably built  about  1830  or  '31.  The  City  school  records  do 
not  go  back  to  that  date.  The  tradition  is  that  Mr. 
Amasa  Goodyear  (father  of  the  noted  Charles  Goodyear) 
donated  the  land  for  the  schoolhouse  to  the  City  District. 
I  cannot  find  a  deed  of  same,  but  as  Mr.  Goodyear  had 
purchased  the  land  on  which  the  house  was  afterwards 
built  of  the  heirs  of  Thomas  Porter  in  the  year  of  1828, 
he  (Goodyear)  could  have  given  the  land  to  the  district, 
which  he  probably  did.  In  the  transfers  to  the  bank  by 
Goodyear  the  title  comes  in  question,  so  William  De 
t 


56  EARLY  SCHOOLS  OP  NAUGATUCK. 

Forest  and  Henry  Hine  deeded  in  March,  1846,  the  land 
on  which  the  schoolhouse  stood  to  Eben  C.  and  Phile- 
mon Tuttle,  and  in  May,  1856,  Eben  0.  Tuttle  delivered 
a  warrantee  deed  to  the  City  School  District,  No.  5.  This 
schoolhouse  was  moved  a  short  distance,  and  a  story 
put  on  above  in  the  year  1856,  and  since  1856  an  addi- 
tion was  made.  It  is  still  standing  and  has  been  used 
as  a  tenement  since  the  new  and  commodious  school- 
house  was  erected. 

Among  the  many  worthy  and  devoted  persons  who 
have  served  in  this  schoolhouse  as  teachers  are  the  fol- 
lowing, probably  not  in  the  order  that  they  taught: 

Miss  Salina  Pool,  who  taught  about  the  year  1839; 
Miss  Eliza  Ford  (daughter  of  Elias)  a  teacher  about  the 
year  1840;  Miss  Sarah  Kellogg  (sister  of  Steven  W.); 
Miss  Eliza  and  Juliet  Tillou  (daughters  of  John);  Miss 
Martha  Hotchkiss  (daughter  of  Oscar) ;  Miss  Martha  M. 
Beecher,  several  terms;   Miss  Mary  Smith;  Miss  Mary 

A.  Wilcox,  from  Litchfield.  Conn. ,  widow  of  the  late  Mr. 

B.  B.  Tattle;  she  commenced  teaching  in  the  fall  of  1856, 
ending  in  the  spring  of  1 858,  three  seasons,  teaching  the 
larger  scholars.  Miss  Emily  Upson,  from  New  Britain, 
taught  the  smaller  scholars  on  the  lower  floor  at  the 
same  time  and  for  the  same  number  of  terms;  Miss  Ade- 
line Thayer;  Mr.  Hubert  Johnson  (son  of  Burr);  Mr. 
William  Hine  (son  of  Harlow)  who  taught  about  the  year 
1872;  Mr.  Seabury  Scott  (son  of  Rev.  Joseph);  Miss  Dut- 
ton;  Mary  L.  Munson. 

I  am  informed  that  the  City  School  District  records 
do  not  go  back  many  years,  so  I  cannot  give  the  names 
of  the  committees  that  served.     I  find  that  George  L. 


CITY  SCHOOL  DISTRICT.  57 

Smith  was  district  committee  in  the  year  of  1845,  and 
that  Asahel  H.  Smith  acted  as  district  committee  in  the 
years  of  1856  and  '57. 

The  City  School  District  was  one  of  the  five  school 
districts  that  consolidated  under  the  name  of  Union  Cen- 
ter School  District  in  the  year  of  1851.  They  soon  de- 
cided that  they  preferred  to  manage  their  own  district 
affairs,  but  did  not  legally  withdraw  until  June,  1867; 
they  still  continue  to  manage  their  own  affairs. 


Straitsville  School  District. 


The  Straitsville  District  was  set  off  from  the  Middle 
District  in  the  year  1825  or  '26.  The  record  of  this  di- 
vision cannot  be  found;  it  is  supposed  to  have  been  de- 
stroyed by  fire  in  the  destruction  of  the  Marshall  Bald- 
win house.  The  Straitsville  schoolhouse  was  of  two 
stories;  the  same  house  is  now  standing.  The  first 
teacher  was  Miss  Miranda  Hine  (daughter  of  Asa  Hine). 
The  first  graded  school  in  the  present  limits  of  Nauga- 
tuck  was  kept  in  the  Straitsville  schoolhouse.  Dr. 
Booth  taught  in  the  higher  department  and  Sarah  Per- 
kins (daughter  of  Abner  Perkins  of  Bethany)  in  the 
lower.  This  was  an  excellent  school  and  scholars  at- 
tended from  the  nearby  districts.  Stiles  Peck  of  Beth- 
any taught  school  in  the  winter;  he  manufactured  whips 
of  all  kinds  in  the  summer  at  a  factory  in  the  neighbor- 
hood, and  kept  the  school  in  winter.  It  is  said  that  he 
almays  maintained  good  obedience  and  order,  having 
always  saved  from  the  factory  plenty  of  material  for 
that  purpose. 

Some  of  the  other  teachers  were  Miss  Rachel  Hotch- 
kiss  (daughter  of  Abraham);  Miss  Lorana  Sherman 
(daughter  of  James)  taught  a  number  of  terms;  Miss 
Hulda  Perkins  of  Bethany  (daughter  of  Abner);]  Miss 


X 

o 
o 

W 

o 


STRAITSVILLE  SCHOOL  DISTRICT.  59 

Siretta  Tuttle,  also  from   Bethany;   Miss   Carrington; 
William  Hine;  Emmie  Ward,  and  others. 

Some  of  the  school  committee  were  Miles  Horton 
and  Philander  Hine. 

A  large  part  of  the  territory  included  in  S traits ville 
School  District  was  formerly  in  the  limits  of  the  town 
of  Bethany;  this  part  of  the  district  was  added  to  the 
town  of  Naugatuck  in  the  year  of  1844. 


The  Old  Schoolhouses. 


The  schoolhouses  of  the  olden  time  were  of  differ- 
ent dimensions,  according  to  the  supposed  wants  of  the 
several  districts.  Some  of  the  schoolhouses  in  the  out- 
lying districts  were  probably  not  more  than  16x20  feet 
in  size.  In  the  Southwest  District,  at  a  school  meeting 
held  in  November,  1791,  it  was  voted  to  build  a  school- 
house  16x20  feet.  This  was  probably  the  size  of  the  old 
one.  But  seven  years  later  they  voted  to  build  a  school- 
house  18x30  feet.  Many  schoolhouses  built  after  1820 
were  of  the  size  mentioned  above.  The  schoolhouse 
built  in  Lewistown  District,  about  the  year  1823,  was 
18x30  feet.  The  house  erected  at  Pond  Hill,  about  the 
year  1823,  which  is  now  standing  (1906)  was  18x26  feet. 
Another  schoolhouse  built  in  1852,  now  standing,  is 
20x24  feet.  The  smaller  schoolhouses  had  two  windows 
on  the  side,  and  probably  two  on  the  end  opposite  the 
door.  The  larger  schoolhouses  had  three  windows  on 
the  side.  The  one  in  which  the  writer  attended  school, 
about  1830,  was  built  about  1823;  it  had  three  windows 
on  the  south  side  and  four  on  the  north.  This  school- 
house  was  first  a  plain,  oblong  house,  but  after  1834  an 
entry  was  added,  having  besides  the  door,  one  window. 
The  structure  was  generally  (a  one- story  building) 
roughly  clapboarded,  and  more  likely  paint  was  lacking, 
both  outside  and  in.  Sometimes  the  chimney  was  built 
in  the  center,  and  often  at  the  end.  I  have  met  some 
old  people  that  remember  a  schoolhouse  with  a  chimney 


THE  OLD  SCHOOLHOUSES.  61 

in  each  end,  each  chimney  having  a  large  fireplace.  The 
school  room  was  lathed  and  plastered.  Against  the 
wall  on  three  sides  of  the  room  was  built  a  continuous 
shelf  about  three  feet  from  the  floor;  long  backless 
benches  accompanied  it,  on  which  the  oldest  scholars 
sat,  facing  the  wall;  when  they  wrote  or  ciphered  they 
rested  their  books  and  slates  on  it.  While  they  were 
studying  they  faced  the  center  of  the  school  room  and 
leaned  their  backs  against  the  edge  of  the  shelf,  trying 
to  feel  comfortable.  The  small  children  were  seated 
within  the  three- sided  square  formed  by  those  of  the 
larger  scholars,  and  on  seats  made  from  slabs,  the 
rounded  part  down.  The  slabs  had  each  four  supports, 
consisting  of  straddling  wooden  legs  set  into  auger  holes. 
The  backless  benches  they  occupied  were  generally 
far  too  high  for  them,  leaving  their  feet  dangling  in  mid 
air.  It  was  hard  for  them;  no  wonder  they  spent  most 
of  the  time  ''busy"  keeping  still.  Just  inside,  next  the 
entrance,  was  the  master's  desk  or  table,  usually  a  table 
in  the  early  days,  but  later  a  desk,  contrived  by  the  car- 
penter, set  on  a  slight  platform.  Besides  serving  the 
purpose  of  a  desk,  it  was  a  repository  for  confiscated 
tops, balls,  pen-knives,  marbles,  jewsharps,  whistles,  etc. 

It  is  believed  that  the  schoolhouses  built  in  what 
is  now  Naugatuck  before  1800  all  had  large  fireplaces. 
Those  later,  generally  were  heated  by  a  Franklin,  and 
still  later  by  a  box  stove. 

I  don't  think  that  we,  in  Connecticut,  ever  had  in  our 
schoolhouses  a  whipping  post,  as  was  the  case  in  the 
town  of  Sunderland,  Mass.,  they  having  a  post  set  in 
the  floor,  about  five  feet  high. 


School   Books. 


It  is  difficult  to  say  what  school  books  were  used  by 
the  scholars  at  Judd's  Meadow  in  the  year  of  1730.  It 
would  seem  from  the  information  now  at  hand  that  the 
New  England  Primer,  published  by  Benjamin  Harris  of 
Boston,  about  1690,  must  have  been  about  the  only 
school  book  used  in  Waterbury  at  that  time,  1730.  Ev- 
ery home  possessed  copies,  and  they  were  for  sale  at  all 
the  town  and  village  book  shops.  For  a  hundred  years 
this  book,  more  than  any  other,  was  the  school  book  of 
the  American  dissenters.  All  of  the  old  editions  are  now 
very  rare.  A  copy  antedating  1800  would  probably 
bring  from  five  to  eight  dollars.  It  is  said  that  this 
primer  was  used  in  the  schools  of  Boston  as  late  as  1806, 
probably  in  some  parts  of  New  England  several  years 
later.  There  were  several  editions  of  the  primer.  The 
Evangelical  Primer  of  1810  was  recommended  by  Noah 
Webster,  Jedediah  Morse  and  the  president  of  Yale  col- 
lege as  a  valuable  book  for  families  and  schools.  The 
law  passed  by  the  colony  in  the  year  1700  required  that: 

"Every  Town  within  this  colony,  having  the  num- 
11  ber  of  seventy  Householders  shall  provide  a  sufficient 
11  School  Master  to  teach  Children  and  Youth  to  read 
"and  write,"  etc. 

In  Massachusetts  only  reading  and  writing  were  re- 
quired in  the  elementary  schools  until  the  law  of  1779, 


SCHOOL  BOOKS.  63 

which  said  there  must  also  be  arithmetic,  the  English 
language,  orthography  and  decent  behavior.  Probably 
arithmetic  was  taught  before  1731  in  Judd's  Meadow. 

As  the  law  required  every  county  to  maintain  a  Latin 
school,  of  course  those  schools  taught  arithmetic,  so  the 
graduates  could  teach  arithmetic  in  the  public  schools. 
Arithmetic  must  be  taught.  The  schoolmaster  had,  of 
the  books  imported  from  England,  Hodder's,  Dilworth's 
and  probably  other  English  arithmetics.  In  the  year 
1788  one  Nicholas  Pike  of  Newburyport,  Mass.,  pub- 
lished a  new  arithmetic;  it  gained  a  wide  acceptance. 
Among  the  many  items  in  the  contents,  I  mention  only 
A  Perpetual  Almanac,  and  the  proportions  and  tonnage 
of  Noah's  Ark.  Only  a  few  of  the  boys  and  girls  ci- 
phered beyond  division,  with  a  short  excursion  into  vul- 
gar fractions.  Those  who  penetrated  into  the  Rule  of 
Three  won  distinction  among  their  mates;  and  to  cipher 
through  "Old  Pike,"  was  to  be  accounted  a  prodigy;  or 
to  use  an  expression  common  in  those  early  days,  was 
a  "great  arithmeticker. "  Then  came  an  Introduction  to 
Arithmetic,  by  Erastus  Root  of  Norwich,  Conn. ,  in  1 796. 
Queerly  enough  it  omitted  fractions;  not  because  "I 
think  useless,  but  because  they  are  not  absolutely  nec- 
essary." A  book  that  rivaled  "Old  Pike"  in  populari- 
ty was  the  arithmetic  by  Daniel  Adams,  published  in 
1801.  Another  arithmetic  by  Nathan  Daboll,  called 
Daboll's  Schoolmaster's  Assistant,  was  very  popular. 
This  arithmetic,  revised  and  published  in  1837,  was  the 
only  arithmetic  that  the  writer  ever  had,  and  was,  as  I 
remember,  the  only  arithmetic  in  the  Lewistown  Dis- 
trict school  from  about  1838  to  1843,  and  perhaps  later. 


64  EARLY  SCHOOLS  OF  NAUGATUCK. 

When  it  was  first  introduced  into  the  public  schools  in 
what  is  now  Naugatuck,  I  am  unable  to  say.  But  it  was 
recommended  by  Noah  Webster  as  early  as  1799,  and 
probably  found  its  way  to  the  schools  in  this  section  soon 
after  that  date.  Warren  Colburn  published  in  1821  an 
arithmetic  called  Colburn's  Intellectual  Arithmetic.  This 
was  a  popular  arithmetic,  and  in  the  next  half  century 
more  than  two  million  copies  were  sold.  I  believe  the 
first  arithmetic  that  used  pictures  as  an  aid  to  beginners 
was  Barnard's,  published  at  Hartford  in  1830.  The 
arithmetic  by  Roswell  C.  Smith  in  1830;  also  Thomp- 
son's Elementary,  Emerson's,  Underbill's,  Greenleaf  s 
and  others. 

WRITING. 

Probably  the  schoolmasters  who  taught  in  what  is 
now  Naugatuck,  as  far  back  as  1731,  made  a  copy  for 
the  children,  taken  from  the  New  England  Primer.  It 
was  customary  to  select  a  word  or  sentence,  as  ' '  Happi- 
ness," "Contentment  is  a  Virtue." 

The  paper  ordinarily  bought  for  school  purposes 
was  rough  and  dark.  Its  cost  and  the  scarcity  of  money 
led  the  scholars  to  use  it  sparingly.  It  is  said  that  the 
children  in  some  cases  ciphered  on  birch  bark.  In  prep- 
aration for  writing  the  children  ruled  the  paper  them- 
selves with  a  lead  plummet,  for  there  were  no  lead  pen- 
cils; they  did  not  come  into  use  until  after  1830.  Even 
slates  were  not  common  until  about  the  year  1820. 

It  is  said  that  the  handwriting  of  the  colonial  chil- 
dren, judging  from  those  specimens  preserved,  was 
equal,  if  not  better,  than  the  writing  of  a  later  date. 


SCHOOL   BOOKS.  65 

Directions   to  beginners  in  writing  from  an  old  book 
says  that: 

''Necessary  implements  are  a  penknife,  quills, 
"paper,  good  and  free  ink,  likewife  a  flat  Ruler  for 
"  sureneff;  and  a  round  one  for  difpatch;  with  a  leden 
' '  Plummet  or  Pencil  to  rule  Lines;  Also  Gum  Sandrich 
"Powder  with  a  little  Cotton  dipped  therein,  which 
"rub  gently  over  the  Paper  to  make  it  bear  Ink  the 
"better." 

Occasionally  a  master  had  narrow  slips  of  engraved 
copies  that  he  could  distribute  among  the  writers.  The 
first  of  these  copies  put  forth  in  this  country  was  pub- 
lished by  the  celebrated  Boston  schoolmaster,  Caleb 
Bingham,  in  1796.  Huntington's  American  Penman  in 
1824  gave  directions  for  writing-pupils.  Notwithstand- 
ing the  lack  of  books  and  opportunities  for  writing,  the 
young  people  of  those  days,  especially  the  girls,  man- 
aged to  write  as  good  a  hand,  if  not  better,  than  the 
young  people  of  a  later  date.  I  have  seen  several  let- 
ters written  about  one  hundred  years  ago.  and  I  must 
say  that  the  writing  shows  that  it  was  done  with  more 
care  than  most  of  the  writing  of  the  present  day.  As 
early  as  1795  to  1844,  perhaps  later,  most  of  the  larger 
girls  made  a  sampler,  which  was  expected  to  be  a  house- 
hold treasure  ever  after.  The  samplers  varied  in  size, 
the  smaller  ones  being  about  7x9  inches,  others  10x12 
and  some  15  inches  square.  The  sampler  was  of  coarse 
linen,  or  possibly  silk,  on  which  it  was  the  custom  to 
stitch  the  alphabet  in  capitals  and  small  letters,  the  digits, 
a  verse  of  sentiment,  and  the  worker's  name,  age,  and 
place  of  abode.     There  were  also  decorations,  borders, 


66  EARLY  SCHOOLS  OP  NAUGATUCK. 

trees  and  flowers,  animals  and  people — all  resplendent 
in  many  colored  silks  or  worsteds. 

FLY  LEAF   SCRIBBLING. 

Children  have  always  been  prone  to  scribbling.  A 
fair  surface  of  paper,  no  matter  where  found,  was  a 
temptation  and  the  fingers,  at  times,  must  be  employed, 
either  in  writing  or  whittling.  The  first  thing  the  youth- 
ful owner  of  a  book  was  likely  to  do,  was  to  mark  it  with 
his  name.  He  might  put  his  signature  on  the  front  fly 
leaf,  or  write  it  on  the  last  one,  or  almost  anywhere  else 
in  the  book.     In  a  geography  of  1802  is  written: 

"  If  this  book  should  chance  to  roam, 
"  Box  its  ears  and  send  it  home." 

Or  again: 

11  Steal  not  this  book,  for  if  you  do, 
"  Tom  Harris  will  be  after  you. 
"  Steal  not  this  book  for  fear  of  strife, 
"  The  owner  carries  a  big  jacknife." 

The  following  sends  the  reader  on  a  wild  goose  chase : 

11  If  my  name  you  wish  to  see, 
"Look  on  page  103." 

Turn  to  that  page  and  you  find: 

"  If  my  name  you  cannot  find, 
"Turn  to  page  109." 

Again  you  turn  to  pages  bidden: 

"  If  my  name  you  cannot  find, 
"Shut  up  the  book  and  never  mind." 


SCHOOL  BOOKS.  67 

I  copy  one  more: 

"If  there  should  be  another  flood, 

11  Then  to  this  book  I'd  fly. 
44  If  all  the  earth  should  be  submerged, 

"This  book  would  still  be  dry." 

Besides  the  scroll  work — The  Diminished  Scroll,  A 
Spanish  S,  etc. 

SPELLING  BOOKS. 

As  far  back  as  1730,  when  Judd's  Meadow  School  Dis- 
trict was  first  established,  there  probably  was  no  special 
spelling  book.  It  was  expected  that  what  the  children 
read  out  of  such  books  as  the  Psalter,  Testament,  or  The 
New  England  Primer  would  meet  this  want.  The  schol- 
ars, as  they  read  in  the  different  classes,  were  expected 
to  spell  the  words.  For  a  long  time  spelling  books  were 
lacking,  and  did  not  become  common  much  before  1750. 
Dilworth's  Speller  was  used  before  the  Revolution,  also 
Fenning's  Speller,  which  appeared  in  1755.  Besides 
44  Tables  of  Words,"  there  was  a  chronology  of  remark- 
able events.    I  copy  in  part: 

"  Eleven  days  of  successive  snow,  A.  D.  1674. 

44  A  very  great  comet,  1680. 

44  A  terrible  high  wind  Nov,  26th,  1703. 

44  The  surprising  Meteor  and  signs  in  the  air,1719." 

I  suppose  the  above  occurred  in  England.  But  I 
doubt  if  the  children  at  Judd's  Meadow  had  many  spell- 
ing books  besides  the  Psalter,  Primer,  Testament  and 
the  Bible,  before  Noah  Webster  published  his  first  spell- 
ing book  in  the  year  of  1783.     One  of  the  first  effects  of 


68  EARLY  SCHOOLS  OF  NAUGATUCK. 

the  publication  of  Webster's  spelling  book  was  to  make 
spelling  a  craze.  Spelling  had  been  but  little  taught, 
but  now  it  created  much  interest,  and  the  scholar  who 
could  ' '  spell  down  the  whole  school  "  ranked  second  only 
to  him  who  surpassed  the  rest  in  arithmetic.  Many  of 
us  well  remember  the  quarter  and  nine-pence.  Each 
prize  coin  was  drilled  and  hung  on  a  string,  and  the 
winners  in  the  afternoon  spelling  lessons  marched 
proudly  with  the  coins  suspended  from  their  necks,  often 
to  be  surrendered  the  next  day  to  a  successful  rival.  A 
record  was  kept  and  at  the  end  of  the  term  the  child 
who  had  carried  the  coin  home  the  greatest  number  of 
times  was  given  full  possession.  The  spelling  matches 
were  also  a  common  recreation  of  the  winter  evenings, 
and  from  time  to  time  neighboring  districts  sent  their 
best  spellers  to  contend  for  honors  in  friendly  combat. 
To  these  evening  contests  came  not  only  the  scholars, 
but  the  older  brothers  and  sisters  and  the  rest  of  the 
community.  Later  there  was  published  a  spelling  book 
by  Caleb  Bingham;  but  in  the  territory  of  Naugatuck 
the  writer  believes  that  Noah  Webster  held  the  field 
until  about  1850.  One  of  the  fables  in  Webster's  book, 
that  impressed  the  children,  and  no  child  ever  forgot  it, 
was  the  story  of  "The  Boy  that  Stole  Apples."  Caleb 
Alexander's  spelling  book  in  1799;  Perry's  edition  in  1803 
and  1818;  The  Columbian  Primer  in  1802  and  1827;  Jones' 
in  1823;  Parsons'  in  1836,  and  others.  But  the  best  ev- 
idence that  Noah  Webster's  Spelling  Book  was  the  pop- 
ular book,  is  to  mention  the  fact  that  over  24  millions 
of  copies  were  published.  I  should  not  omit  Watts' 
Complete  Spelling  Book,  used  in  colonial  days. 


SCHOOL   BOOKS.  69 

GEOGRAPHY. 

I  doubt  if  the  children  in  Judd's  Meadow  District 
ever  had  a  gegoraphy,  for  those  books  were  rare  before 
1784,  and  before  that  time  the  Judd's  Meadow  District 
was  merged  into  other  districts.     Jedediah  Morse  first 
published  a  geography  in  the  year  1784.   There  is  now  no 
means  of  ascertaining  whether  geography  was  used  in 
the  public   schools  in   Naugatuck  before   about  1800. 
Peter  Parley  writes  that  he  attended  school  in  Ridge- 
field,  Conn.,  in  the  year  1799,  and  that  there  was  not  at 
that  time  a  geography,  a  grammar,  or  a  history  of  any 
kind  in  the  school.     The  old  notion  was  that  the  teach- 
ing  of  geography  was  taking  the  scholars'  attention 
away  from  ciphering.     But  geography  was  afterwards 
recognized  and  Morse's  Geography  was  introduced  into 
the  public  schools  soon  after  1800.     The  earliest  rival 
of  Morse's  was  a  small  volume  by  Nathaniel  Dwight 
published  in  Hartford  in  1795;  The  Monitor's  Instructor 
published  in  1804;   another  by  Benjamin    Davis,   pub 
lished  in  1813;  Cummings'  Geography  in  1814;  Adams 
in  1818;   then  there  was  Worcester's,  published  in  1829 
Peter  Parley's  in  1829,  and  another  edition  in  1839;  geog 
raphy  by  Olney  in  1831;  then  came  Woodbridge's  in  1833 
Goodrich  was  in  the  field  in  1845;  then  Mitchell's  fol 
lowed  in  1850.  and  several  others.     In  Dwight's  Geogra 
phy  the  principal  cities  were  located  by  giving  their 
distance  from  London,  thus: 

"Petersburg,  the  capital  of  Russia,  is  1140  miles 
"  Northeaft  from  London.  Pekin,  the  capital  of  China, 
"ftands  eight  thoufand  and  fixty-two  miles  foutheaft- 
"erly  of  London,"  etc. 


70  EARLY  SCHOOLS  OF  NAUGATUCK. 

11 Q.  What  curiofities  are  there  in  France? 

"  A.  A  fountain  near  Grenoble  emits  a  flame  which 
"will  burn  paper,  straw,  etc.,  but  will  not  burn  gun- 
4 'powder.  Within  about  eight  leagues  of  the  fame 
"  place  is  an  inaccetfable  mountain  in  the  form  of  a  pyr- 
4 'amid  reverfed. 

"Q.  Give  a  concife  defcription  of  the  Giages  and 
"  Annians. 

"A.  The  firft  inhabit  a  part  of  the  Congo  coaft; 
"  the  latter  live  in  the  Macaco.  They  are  cannibals. 
"  They  kill  and  eat  their  first  born  children,  and  their 
"  friends  who  die  are  eaten  by  their  relations.  In 
"  Macaco  there  is  a  market  in  which  human  flefh  is 
"fold,  although  other  meat  exifts  in  plenty.  They 
"efteem  it  a  luxury,  and  it  is  said  one  hundred  prif- 
"  oners  or  f laves  are  daily  killed  for  the  king's  table." 

Cummings'  geography,  printed  in  1814,  says: 

"The  Alleghany  mountains  are  in  some  places  im- 
"  mense  masses  of  rock  piled  one  above  another  till 
"  they  reach  the  height  of  more  than  10,000  feet  above 
"a  level  with  the  ocean." 

Lewis  and  Clark  had  already  crossed  the  continent, 
and  we  find  mention  of  the  "  Stoney  Mountains."  It 
was  a  number  of  years  before  the  name  "Rocky"  was 
substituted  for  "Stoney."  In  Adams',  published  in 
1818,  we  find: 

'  The  White  Mountains  are  the  highest,  not  only 
"in  New  Hampshire,  but  in  the  United  States." 

The  following  from  Adams'  geography  says: 

"The  people  of  Norway  retain  their  strength  so 
"long  that  a  Norwegian  is  not  supposed  incapable  of 


SCHOOL  BOOKS.  71 

"labour  till  he  is  upwards  of  100  years  old.  The  in- 
habitants in  some  of  the  interior  parts,  it  is  said, 
"  live  till  weary  of  life." 

Peter  Parley's  geography,  a  thin,  square  little 
book,  with  its  pictures  and  stories,  had  an  immense  cir- 
culation, and  no  boy  of  its  time  will  ever  forget  it. 

GRAMMARS. 

I  have  not  seen  a  list  of  English  grammars  used  in 
colonial  days.  The  American  Grammar,  by  Robert 
Boss,  published  in  1782,  I  have  seen  in  an  old  advertise- 
ment. It  may  have  been  used  in  the  public  schools  be- 
fore Caleb  Bingham  issued  his  Short  and  Easy  Intro- 
duction to  English  Grammar,  published  in  1799,  its 
only  predecessor  of  importance  being  Part  II.  of 
Webster's  Grammatical  Institute.  But  Lindley  Mur- 
ray published  in  1795  his  grammar,  which  took  and  held 
the  field  for  many  years,  almost  to  the  exclusion  of  ev- 
ery other  work  dealing  with  the  subject.  I  have  at  hand 
an  advertisement  of  school  books  in  1802,  and  I  find 
mentioned  only  one  grammar,  Murray's,  with  several  of 
his  other  books:  English  Reader,  Grammar  Abridged, 
etc.,  Dilworth's  and  Webster's  Spelling  Books.  In  the 
lists  are  School  Testaments,  Watts'  Hymns,  Young's 
Night  Thoughts,  Pike's  Arrithmetic,  Sewell's  History, 
Morse's  Geography,  iEsop  Fables,  Paradise  Lost,  Blos- 
soms of  Morality,  and  many  other  books. 

There  is  a  tradition  that  a  friend  of  Murray's  once 
said  to  him: 

"  Of  all  the  contrivances  invented  for  puzzling  the 
"  brain  of  the  young,  your  grammar  is  the  worst." 
6 


72  EARLY  SCHOOLS  OF  NAUGATUCK. 

And  this  is  quite  believable.  The  study  of  gram- 
mar had  been  introduced  into  many  of  the  public  schools 
by  1810,  yet  few  teachers  explained  its  intricacies.  It 
is  said  that  about  1795,  in  a  Pennsylvania  school,  that 
some  scholars,  after  a  short  experience  with  the  new 
study,  organized  for  relief,  and  each  scholar  appeared 
to  the  master  with  a  report  that: 

"  Daddy  seys  I  needn't  larn  grammar.     It's  no  use." 

The  most  attractive  edition  of  Murray's  grammar 
was  one  adapted  to  the  present  mode  of  instruction,  by 
Enoch  Pond,  Worcester,  1835,  a  thin  little  volume,  with 
many  small  engravings  illustrating  parts  of  speech. 
Then  came  The  Little  Grammarian.  It  was  of  English 
origin,  but  was  republished  in  New  York  in  1829.  This 
book  made  the  leading  rules  of  syntax  more  clear  by  a 
series  of  instructive  and  amusing  tales. 

Another  book  allied  to  grammar  was  Frost's  Easy 
Exercises  in  Composition  in  1839,  and  Roswell  Smith's 
Grammar,  and  other  grammars. 

The  writer  does  not  intend  to  state  exactly  what 
grammars  were  used  in  the  Naugatuck  schools,  but  to 
give  the  names  of  some  of  the  books  in  print  in  those 
days. 

HISTORIES. 

History  was  not  taken  up  in  the  schools  until  the 
nineteenth  century  was  well  begun.  The  writer  does 
not  know  what  histories  were  first  used  in  the  public 
schools  in  Naugatuck.  There  were  in  1802,  Sewell's, 
Gordon's,  and  other  histories.  Probably  some  of  the 
American  histories  were  first  used.     Rev.  C.  A.  Good- 


SCHOOL  BOOKS.  73 

rich  published  his  history  in  1822.  This  surpassed  all 
rivals  in  popularity.  Within  a  dozen  years  150  thousand 
copies  had  been  sold.  Several  universal  histories  were 
published.  Butler's,  one  of  the  first  to  be  brought  out, 
included,  according  to  the  title  page,  "History,  Sacred 
and  Profane,  from  the  Creation  of  the  World  to  the  Year 
1818."  Of  the  other  histories  there  were  Taylor's, 
Olney's  and  Peter  Parley's,  the  last  running  up  into 
hundreds  of  editions. 

PRIMARY  READERS. 

Readers  of  any  sort  for  beginners  were  very  few 
previous  to  1825.  The  Franklin  Primer,  published  in 
1802  was  intended  as  a  substitute  for  the  primer.  It 
contained  a  variety  of  tables,  moral  lessons,  etc.,  with  a 
history  of  the  world.  The  next  book  of  this  class  was 
The  Child's  Instructor,  published  in  Philadelphia  in 
1808.  Then  comes  the  Child's  Instructor  and  Moral 
Primer  in  1822;  Leave tt's  Easy  Lessons  in  Reading,  pub- 
lished in  1823,  followed  by  his  supplement  in  1830. 

Then  the  Clinton  Primer,  published  in  Boston  the 
same  year,  followed  by  The  Child's  Guide  in  1833. 
Then  we  have  Pierpont's,  The  Young  Reader,  and  Lov- 
ell's  Young  People's  Second  Book,  in  1836,  following  the 
plan  of  The  Child's  Guide  in  the  use  of  italics,  but  the 
book  was  noted  for  its  superior  pictures.  There  were 
other  readers,  but  I  think  Lovell's  Reader  was  used  in 
the  Naugatuck  schools  later  than  1850. 


74  EARLY  SCHOOLS  OF  NAUGATUCK. 

ADVANCED  READERS. 

The  first  reader  produced  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic 
was  by  Noah  Webster,  soon  after  the  Revolution,  as  the 
Third  Part  of  his  Grammatical  Institute,  Previously  the 
spelling  book  and  New  England  Primer  were  the  only 
text  books  containing  exercises  in  reading.  About  1790 
Webster  published  another  reader,  called  The  Little 
Reader's  Assistant.  One  of  the  most  popular  of  the 
early  readers  was  Caleb  Bingham's,  The  American  Pre- 
ceptor, Boston,  1794.  Another  book  of  Bingham's,  pub- 
lished about  1806,  called  the  Columbian  Orator.  Noth- 
ing in  this  book  was  of tener  heard  from  the  school  plat- 
form than,  ''You'd  scarce  expect  one  of  my  age,"  etc. 
But  the  most  thoroughly  illustrated  of  any  of  the  earlier 
readers  was  a  book  published  in  Philadelphia  in  1799, 
called  The  Columbian  Reading  Book,  or  Historical  Pre- 
ceptor, "  Collection  of  Authentic  Histories,  Anecdotes, 
etc."  From  over  160  short  lessons  I  have  only  space  for 

one: 

"A  white  man  meeting-  an  Indian  asked  him, 
11  whose  Indian  are  you?  To  which  the  copper-faced 
11  genius  replied:  I  am  God  Almighty's  Indian,  whose 
11  Indian  are  you?" 

Scott's  and  Lindley  Murray's  were  the  only  ones  by 
English  compilers  to  be  widely  circulated  in  this  coun- 
try. The  information  imparted  was  sometimes  pecu- 
liar and  would  hardly  pass  at  the  present  day.  For  in- 
stance: 

11  What  is  said  about  the  Cataract  of  Niagara?" 


SCHOOL  BOOKS.  75 

After  describing  the  amazing  fall  of  water  of  150 
feet  perpendicular,  etc.,  says: 

"It  will  be  readily  supposed  that  such  a  cataract 
"entirely  destroys  the  navigation  of  the  stream;  and 
"yet  some  Indians  in  their  canoes,  it  is  said,  have 
"ventured  down  it  in  safety." 

Then  we  have  the  Common  Reader,  by  T.  Strong 
of  Greenfield,  Mass.,  in  1818;  The  National  Reader,  by 
Pierpont,  in  1827;  The  General  Class  Book,  published 
in  1828;  National  Preceptor,  by  J.  Olney,  in  1831.  I 
have  the  sixth  edition,  published  in  1839.  This  shows 
that  this  reading  book  had  considerable  popularity. 
There  were  plenty  of  readers  to  choose  from.  The  last 
one  that  I  will  mention  is  Adams',  The  Monitorial  Read- 
er, published  in  1839.  I  cannot  resist  the  temptation  to 
copy  at  least  one  of  the  four  verses  found  in  Adams' 
Reader,  entitled: 

"THE  POT  OF  BAKED  BEANS. 

"The  pot  of  baked  beans!  with  what  pleasure  I  saw  it, 
"Well  season'd,  well  pork'd  by  some  rosy  fac'd  dame, 

"  And  when  from  the  glowing-  hot  oven  she'd  draw  it, 
"Well  crisp'd  and  well  brown'd  to  the  table  it  came; 
"  O,  give  me  my  country,  the  land  of  my  teens, 
"  Of  the  dark  Indian  pudding,  and  pot  of  bak'd  beans." 


Union  Center  School  District. 


It  is  not  the  intention  of  the  writer  to  give  a  histo- 
ry of  the  Union  Center  School  District,  though  it  is 
earnestly  desired  that  some  one  in  the  future  should 
write  out  a  complete  history  of  this  district. 

As  the  lost  records  of  the  Union  Center  School  Dis- 
trict have  not  yet  been  found,  and  as  it  seems  desirable 
that  the  able  article  contributed  by  the  Hon.  Stephen 
W.  Kellogg,  concerning  the  early  formation  of  the 
school  in  the  Union  Center  District  should  not  be  lost, 
the  writer,  with  the  kind  permission  of  Mrs.  John  B. 
Yale  (who  perhaps  has  the  only  copy),  has  thought  it 
best  to  preserve  the  information  therein  contained  for 
future  use: 

AN  INTERESTING  LETTER  FROM  THE 
PEN  OF  GEN.  S.  W.  KELLOGG. 

STRUGGLE  OVER   CONSOLIDATING  THE    FIVE    DISTRICTS    IN    THE 

TOWN  OF  NAUGATUCK  IN  ORDER  TO  HAVE   A  GRADED 

SCHOOL— ASSISTANCE  OF  HENRY  BARNARD. 

To  the  Editor  of  the  American: 

The  recent  death  of  the  Hon.  Henry  Barnard,  at  Hartford,  has 
recalled  a  former  intimacy  I  had  with  him  in  common  school  work 
50  years  ago.  I  was  a  young  lawyer  in  Naugatuck,  having  opened 
my  first  office  there.     The  first  year  of  my  residence,  I  was  put  on 


UNION  CENTER  SCHOOL  DISTRICT.  !  77 

the  board  of  school  visitors  and  made  an  acting  school  visitor. 
Business  was  not  very  pressing  in  my  office,  so  I  had  plenty  of  time 
to  discharge  the  duties,  and  I  endeavored  to  do  so  faithfully.  The 
law  required  an  acting  school  visitor  to  visit  all  the  schools  of  the 
town  twice  at  least  during  each  session,  and  the  visits  were  usu- 
ally made  soon  after  the  commencement  and  near  the  close  of  the 
session,  for  the  purpose  of  seeing  what  improvements  were  made. 
The  compensation,  as  provided  by  law  then,  was  $1  a  day  for  act- 
ual time  spent;  so  if  I  only  spent  one-half  day  in  school,  all  that  I 
could  get  for  my  compensation  was  50  cents.  I  found  the  schools 
in  a  terrible  condition.  Some  of  the  schoolhouses  were  not  fit  for 
an  ordinary  stable,  and  children  in  every  one  of  the  schools,  schol- 
ars of  all  ages,  sat  together,  ranging  from  4  to  20  years  of  age.  I 
once  taught  a  common  school  in  the  winter  in  western  Massachu- 
setts, where  the  oldest  scholar  was  24  years  old  and  the  youngest 
3,  and  that  was  the  only  kind  of  school  that  they  had  in  the  town 
of  Naugatuck  when  I  went  there.  There  were  eight  school  dis- 
tricts, and  none  of  them  were  large  enough  or  rich  enough  to 
build  a  decent  schoolhouse. 

On  looking  the  matter  over  and  talking  with  some  of  the  lead- 
ing men  of  Naugatuck  at  that  time,  who  are  all  dead  and  gone  now, 
we  were  determined  that  something  should  be  done  to  improve  the 
school  system  in  Naugatuck.  I  opened  a  correspondence  with  Hon. 
Henry  Barnard,  who  had  recently  been  appointed  superintendent 
of  common  schools  of  the  state  under  the  laws  of  1849,  and  who  bad 
spent  10  years  or  more  in  Rhode  Island  in  building  up  an  improved 
common  school  system,  the  chief  feature  of  which  was  graded 
schools,  so  called;  and  Connecticut,  which  was  10  years  or  more 
behind  Rhode  Island  and  Massachusetts  at  that  time  in  the  mat- 
ter of  schools,  had  just  awoke  to  the  necessity  of  doing  something 
here.  Massachusetts,  under  the  head  of  Horace  Mann,  and  Rhode 
Island,  under  the  head  of  Henry  Barnard,  had  far  outstripped 
Connecticut  in  the  improvement  of  common  schools.  Prior  to  the 
appointment  of  Henry  Barnard  as  superintendent  of  schools,  the 
old  school  fund  commissioner  by  law  was  the  superintendent  of 
common  schools  in  Connecticut;  and  he  paid  about  as  much  atten- 
tion to  it  as  a  man  having  all  the  work  he  could  do  besides  could 


78  EARLY  SCHOOLS  OF  NAUGATUCK. 

give.  After  some  correspondence  with  Mr.  Barnard,  he  arranged 
to  come  to  Naugatuck  and  look  the  ground  over  with  me.  He 
spent  a  day  with  me  there,  and  he  said  the  only  remedy  was  to 
consolidate  several  of  the  school  districts,  and  make  a  graded 
school.  Waterbury  had  already  established  the  graded  school  in 
the  Center  District,  but  a  great  portion  of  the  people  of  Naugatuck 
thought  the  time  had  not  come  for  any  such  innovation,  and  the 
project  was  bitterly  opposed.  There  was  more  excitement  over  it 
for  a  year  or  more  than  over  any  political  question  that  I  ever  ex- 
perienced, for  it  was  kept  up  month  after  month  during  the  whole 
time.  I  was  repeatedly  threatened  with  being  driven  out  of  town 
if  I  persisted  in  working  for  the  change  of  the  old  school  districts; 
but  I  had  no  idea  of  being  beaten  after  I  had  once  taken  hold  of 
the  matter,  and  we  kept  agitating  the  question  until  we  finally 
succeeded,  after  10  meetings  or  more,  in  getting  a  vote  of  the 
school  society  of  Naugatuck  to  consolidate  five  out  of  the  eight 
districts  of  the  town.  These  districts  were  then  called  the  Center, 
Lewistown,  Partridgetown,  City  and  Hill  districts,  and  they  were 
formed  into  one  district,  called  the  First  school  district,  now  called 
Union  Center  district,  I  believe;  and  to  the  people  who  now  think 
that  a  schoolhouse  cannot  be  built  for  less  than  $50,000  or  $60,000, 
it  may  be  interesting  to  know  that  50  years  ago  an  expense  of 
$4,000  for  making  a  graded  schoolhouse  and  the  repair  of  other 
houses  was  all  that  was  thought  necessary  in  Naugatuck.  Four 
thousand  dollars  was  all  that  was  raised  for  the  purchase  of  a  site 
and  building  a  new  schoolhouse  for  the  older  grade  of  scholars; 
and  the  district  felt  the  burden  of  raising  that  sum  as  too  great  to 
begin  with.  So  I  drew  a  resolution,  in  accordance  with  instruc- 
tions of  the  district  committee,  which  I  got  passed  by  the  Legis- 
lature in  1852,  authorizing  the  First  school  district  of  Naugatuck 
to  borrow  a  sum  of  money  not  exceeding  $2,500  at  a  rate  of  interest 
not  exceeding  7  per  cent,  as  it  was  difficult  to  get  the  money  at  a 
legal  rate  of  interest.  I  never  had  a  harder  fight  in  any  law  case 
than  I  did  during  the  years  1850  and  1851  in  bringing  about  a  con- 
solidation of  the  five  districts;  and  the  excitement  over  the  ques- 
tion seems  a  little  ridiculous  at  this  distance  of  time. 

Another  instance  of  the  economy  of  those  days  is  the  fact  that 


UNION  CENTER  SCHOOL  DISTRICT.  ?9 

the  state  superintendent  of  common  schools  was  obliged  by  law  to 
travel  all  over  the  state  in  the  interest  of  common  schools,  and 
hold  conventions  of  teachers,  and  all  that  he  was  allowed  for  his 
services  was  $3  a  day.  Henry  Barnard  was  a  rising  young  lawyer 
in  Hartford  back  in  the  thirties,  a  prominent  member  of  the  Leg- 
islature, I  believe,  and  bid  fair  to  be  one  of  the  first  lawyers  of  the 
state;  yet  he  gave  up  all  his  prospects  of  life  in  that  direction  to 
devote  his  life  to  the  improvement  of  common  schools.  He  spent 
10  years  or  more  of  that  work  in  Rhode  Island  before  he  took  the 
place  of  state  superintendent  in  Connecticut  under  the  law  of  1849. 
His  whole  life  was  given  to  the  cause  of  education,  and  in  his  late 
years,  being  poor,  his  friends  voluntarily  raised  a  sum  of  money  to 
insure  him  the  comforts  of  life  in  his  last  days. 

The  school  buildings  of  Naugatuck  are  a  very  different  affair 
now  from  the  humble  beginning  of  50  years  ago;  and  the  town  of 
Naugatuck  is  indebted  to  the  public  spirit  and  generosity  of  J  .H. 
Whittemore  more  than  to  all  others  for  the  schoolhouse  that 
stands  near  the  churches  in  the  Center  district. 

Naugatuck  has  excellent  schools  now,  as  I  understand;  prob- 
ably as  good  as  those  of  Waterbury  or  most  of  the  other  large 
places  in  this  state.  A  new  parochial  school  buildmg  has  been  re- 
cently erected,  which  is  a  very  fine  building,  and  will  probably  add 
much  to  the  facilities  of  education  in  Naugatuck.  The  chidren  of 
this  day  little  realize  the  great  contrast  between  the  advantages 
for  education  that  they  enjoy,  and  those  of  their  fathers  and  moth- 
ers,  40  or  50  years  ago. 

One  of  the  most  important  improvements  in  education  in  re- 
cent years  has  been  the  physical  instruction  of  the  chi dren  A 
mental  education  is  worth  very  little  for  a  child's  happiness  and 
Tccess  in  future  years,  unless  a  good  sound  head  and  body  go  with 
t  "^  Sa»«  Uore  W-a  sound  mind  in  a  sound  b  d 
-is  a  maxim  as  old  as  the  latin  classics.  Young  children  need 
tWs  iXctiOB  in  schools  much  more  than  the  extra  outside 
thine-s  that  are  now  taught  them. 

ft  was  passing  strange  to  some  of  us  that  a  board  of  education 
recently!!  majority  of  whom  were  doctors,  should  drop  a  course 
of  physical  instruction  in  onr  schools  here,  after  having  the  ben- 


80  EARLY  SCHOOLS  OF  NAUGATUCK. 

efit  of  it  for  two  or  three  years.  They  dropped  a  teacher,  too,  who 
was  singularly  well  qualified  for  the  position,  without  notice,  or 
without  giving  her  an  opportunity  to  resign.  As  one  of  our  best 
teachers  said  to  me,  her  bloom  of  health  and  her  physical  energy 
was  such,  that  it  was  an  inspiration  to  the  children  the  moment 
she  entered  the  schoolroom.  Economy  in  our  schools  had  better 
have  been  exercised  in  some  other  direction,  than  in  dispensing 
with  the  physical  instruction  of  children,  which  is  all  important 
in  their  education.  We  all  take  pride  in  the  improvement  of  our 
public  schools,  but  there  is  a  tendency  to  extravagance  and  loose- 
ness of  appropriation  in  this  direction  which  will  bear  watching. 
The  board  of  education  in  Hartford,  within  a  few  days,  recommend- 
ed an  appropriation  of  $40,000  for  free  school  books,  etc.,  if  the 
papers  inform  us  correctly.  That  was  a  little  too  much  for  the 
city  government,  and  the  matter  was  referred  to  the  city  attorney. 
What  the  result  is  I  have  not  seen. 

The  great  hope  and  safeguard  for  the  future  of  this  country  is 
in  our  public  schools,  and  the  best  means  of  improving  the  condi- 
tion and  advancing  the  civilization  of  the  new  possessions  that 
have  recently  come  to  this  country  and  also  of  Cuba,  will  be  found 
in  their  public  education.  We  have  had  the  interesting  spectacle 
of  1,200  Cuban  teachers  coming  to  us  this  summer  and  devoting  the 
summer  months  to  work  in  the  best  methods  of  teaching,  under 
the  walls  of  Harvard  university.  It  is  one  of  the  most  encourag- 
ing signs  of  the  desire  of  those  people  for  a  better  education,  that 
this  year  has  given  us.  The  public  education  of  the  children  in 
Cuba,  and  in  all  our  new  possessions,  will  advance  the  cause  of  civ- 
ilization there  more  rapidly  than  all  other  means  combined. 

S.  W.  KELLOGG. 


Private  or  Select  Schools. 


It  is  desirable  that  some  mention  be  made  of  the 
private  or  select  schools  that  existed  in  the  early  days 
in  what  is  now  Naugatuck.  The  first  private  or  select 
school  that  the  writer  has  any  knowledge  of,  was  the 
school  commenced  by  the  Rev.  Amos  Pettengill  a  few 
years  before  his  death  (which  occurred  in  August,  1830). 
This  school  was  continued  until  about  the  year  1837,  by 
his  daughter,  Mary  Ann  Pettengill,  and  her  brother 
Benjamin.  They  taught  in  the  upper  story  in  the  house 
then  called  the  Pettengill  house,  located  on  High  street. 
This  house  is  still  standing. 

Mention  should  be  made  of  the  Naugatuck  Female 
Seminary,  as  it  was  called  in  their  prospectus.  This 
was  a  young  ladies'  boarding  school  (probably  one  of  the 
two  or  three  then  existing  in  New  Haven  county).  This 
school  was  managed  by  Miss  Margaret  Marshall  and 
Miss  Elizabeth  Crafts  from  Troy,  N.  Y.  Their  school, 
as  stated,  was  to  commence  on  the  first  Monday  of  Octo- 
ber, 1839,  at  the  house  of  Mrs.  Fanny  Fowler,  Church 

StreAnother  select  school,  taught  by  Mr.  Gustavus 
Spencer,  winter  of  1835  and  '36,  at  the  house  of  Daniel 
Beecher.  He  was  a  very  competent  teacher,  and  was  a 
graduate  of  Yale. 

During  the  winter  of  1842  and  '43  Mr.  Joseph  Sal- 
keld,  a  graduate  of  William  and  Mary's  college,  Virginia, 


82  EARLY  SCHOOLS  OF  NAUGATUCK. 

taught  a  select  school  in  the  house  of  Mrs.  Fanny  Fow- 
ler on  Church  street.  The  writer  well  remembers  the 
winter  of  1842  and  '43,  as  at  that  time  the  larger  boys 
had  a  debating  society  in  good  working  order.  We 
often  met  in  the  old  red  schoolhouse  near  the  ceme- 
tery, and  debated  many  of  the  great  questions  that 
were  then  interesting  the  people.  We  had  substan- 
tial help  from  the  school  on  Church  street.  One  of  the 
scholars  from  that  school  was  quite  prominent  in  our 
meetings,  and  was  later  well  known  in  this  valley  as 
Judge  Harris  B.  Munson.  The  excitement  of  the  earn- 
est and  lively  debates,  together  with  the  spicy  and  hu- 
morous reports  of  the  meeting  by  one  who  signed  him- 
self Snodgrass,  will  long  be  remembered  by  those  who 
participated  in  those  pleasures  of  bygone  days. 

A  Mr.  Freeman,  friend  of  the  Rev.  Chauncey  G. 
Lee,  taught  several  terms,  about  the  year  1840,  in  the 
upper  part  of  the  building  used  by  William  DeForest  & 
Co.  as  a  finishing  shop. 

I  am  informed  that  about  the  year  1848  or  '49  Miss 
Lucy  Thayer  taught  a  private  school  for  several  terms 
in  a  building  then  standing  on  the  east  side  of  Water 
street.  This  building  was  afterwards  known  as  the  old 
lockup.  The  writer  is  also  informed  that  Miss  Lucia  H. 
Andrews  taught  in  the  same  building  a  few  years  later 
a  private  or  select  school.  Miss  Andrews  is  now  (1906) 
the  widow  of  the  late  Hon.  Stephen  W.  Kellogg. 

Also  a  number  of  other  private  schools,  one  of  them 
in  the  old  gate  house  on  the  east  side  of  Church  street. 

Other  private  schools  have  been  maintained  in 
Naugatuck  from  time  to  time  since  1850. 


Tabitha  Castle  and   her  School  of 
a  Hundred  Years  Ago. 


The  writer  believes  that  a  history  of  Tabby  (or 
Tabitha)  Castle's  school  will  be  a  history  in  part  of  one 
section  of  the  town  of  Naugatuck: 

In  searching  back  for  the  history  of  the  schools  of 
the  olden  time,  we  find  a  few  of  the  names  of  the  school 
teachers  who  cared  for  the  early  education  of  some  of 
our  fathers  and  mothers,  or  our  grandfathers  and 
grandmothers. 

One  hundred  years  ago  a  little  schoolhouse  was 
standing  on  the  hill  in  Lewistown  district,  surrounded 
on  three  sides  by  a  heavy  growth  of  timber  called  Scott's 
woods.  This  schoolhouse  was  located  on  a  hill  (now 
Scott  street),  and  in  a  pleasant  place  above  the  valley. 
One  standing  in  1804  at  its  front  and  looking  into  the 
valley  and  towards  the  hills  beyond,  could  have  counted 
five  or  six  farm  houses  in  sight,  they  being  only  a 
part  of  the  farm  houses  within  the  district  lines.  The 
whole  number  of  farm  houses  in  view  not  exceeding 
eleven  or  twelve. 

The  schoolhouse  mentioned  above  was  probably 
built  soon  after  the  Lewistown  district  was  organized, 
which  was  in  the  year  of  1779.  No  records  of  this 
school    district   can  be  found ;    all    excepting  a  few 


84  EARLY  SCHOOLS  OF  NAUGATUCK. 

scattered  papers  are  lost,  It  was  in  this  small  unpre- 
tending building  during,  the  summer  of  1804,  that  the 
care,  government  and  education  of  the  young  people  of 
Lewistown  district  were  placed  under  the  care  and  dis- 
cipline of  Miss  Tabitha  Castle,  who  by  her  gentle  in- 
fluence, united  with  a  firm  and  reasonable  government, 
controlled  and  guided  her  scholars  so  as  to  promote 
their  education  and  fit  them  later  to  become  good  and 
useful  citizens. 

Tabitha  Castle  was  born  in  Waterbury,  March  19, 
1772.  She  was  the  third  child  of  the  ten  children  born 
to  Phineas  and  Mary  Dickerman  Castle.  Her  father, 
Capt.  Phineas,  was  a  captain  in  the  French  and  Indian 
war  and  also  served  in  the  Revolution.  His  daughters, 
Polly  M.  and  Tabitha,  were  noted  school  teachers.  The 
former  taught  in  Cheshire,  now  Prospect,  and  Tabitha 
who  taught  in  Middlebury  and  Waterbury,  now  Nauga- 
tuck. 

If  we  allowed  our  minds  to  wander  back  one  hun- 
dred years  ago,  we  might  imagine  Miss  Tabitha  Castle 
teaching  in  the  old  schoolhouse  among  her  scholars, 
consisting  of  thirty  boys  and  twenty-five  girls.  It  is 
somewhat  difficult  to  describe  the  exact  routine  of  a 
school  one  hundred  years  ago,  but  we  can  imagine  Miss 
Castle  commencing  with  reading  from  the  Testament 
by  the  first  class,  next  prayers,  then  writing,  with  its 
preparation  of  pens  and  copies,  not  omitting  the  thaw- 
ing and  watering  of  ink.  Then  perhaps  the  smaller 
children  were  called  out  to  repeat  a  few  easy  sentences 
from  their  primer  or  spelling  books.  About  half  past 
ten  the  welcome  words,  "You  may  go  out,"  were  said. 


TABITHA  CASTLE'S  SCHOOL.  85 

The  recess  was  short,  but  the  scholars  made  the  most 
of  it.  Then  the  sharp  rap  of  the  ferule  on  the  door  post 
would  bring  them  back.  Work  was  resumed,  and  the 
rest  of  the  session  was  spent  in  a  general  spelling  and 
other  exercises.  The  afternoon  probably  began  with 
reading  by  the  first  class,  and  then  the  other  classes  re- 
cited in  turn  until  recess.  The  final  hour  was  devoted 
to  spelling  once  more,  with  minor  instructions  in  abbre- 
viation, currencies,  weights,  etc. 

One  familiar  to  many  of  her  scholars  as  they  ap- 
peared to  the  writer  some  forty  years  later,  can  imagine 
Miss  Castle  as  she  called  upon  one  at  a  time,  little  Nan- 
cy Calkins  or  Josiah  Culver,  and  the  little  Scott  boys, 
Elias  and  Lewis,  twin  brothers,  and  others;   and  point- 
ing perhaps  with  her  pen-knife  to  the  letters  of  the  al- 
phabet, saying,  ' '  What's  that?"     Peter  Parley  says  that 
he  achieved  the  alphabet  all  in  one  summer.     I  presume 
that  Miss  Castle's  small  scholars  did  at  well.     The  sec- 
ond class  was  composed  of  nine  boys  and  nine  girls,  and 
Miss  Castle  gave  her  best  efforts  in  improving  the  minds 
of  the  three  Hoadleys,  Lucian  Spencer,  also  the  Culver 
boys,  not  forgetting  William  DeForest  and  others.   The 
nine' girls  had   to  be  looked  after.     The  two  Warner 
girls,  the  Spencer,  Scott,  Beckley  and  Caulkins  girls, 
not  forgetting  the   youngest,    Laura  Terrell.      Their 
studies  were  probably  confined  to  reading,  writing  and 
spelling,  but  it  must  have  required  the  best  efforts  of 
Miss  Castle  to  keep  these  sixteen  boys  of  her  first  class 
in  line  and  order,  for  nine  of  them  were  over  twelve 
years  of  age.    The  writer  knew  nearly  all  of  them  in  their 
after  years,  and  have  no  doubt  that  her  example  and 


86  EARLY  SCHOOLS  OF  NAUGATUCK. 

influence  were  most  beneficial.  The  fifteen  girls  of  her 
first  class,  so  far  as  I  can  learn,  all  proved  to  the  com- 
munities where  they  afterward  lived,  that  their  moral, 
mental  and  religious  education  had  not  been  in  vain. 

In  the  olden  time,  that  is,  one  hundred  years  ago, 
it  is  probable  that  in  the  district  schools  in  Connecticut, 
especially  in  the  small  towns,  only  Webster,  s  spelling 
book,  called  the  American  Spelling  Book,  was  used. 
About  1790  Webster  published  a  book  called  The  Little 
Reader's  Assistant.  This,  and  the  old  New  England 
Primer,  new  edition  of  1791,  was  probably  used  in  Miss 
Castle's  school.  Writing  must  be  taught,  but  the  most 
important  of  all  was  arithmetic.  Daball's  appears  to 
have  been  mostly  used  in  Connecticut  at  that  time.  I 
doubt  if  Murray's  grammar,  published  in  1795,  or  Morse's 
geography,  although  published  in  1784,  and  a  new  edi- 
tion in  1800,  were  used  in  the  district  schools  in  1804  in 
what  is  now  Naugatuck. 

It  is  said  that  Harvard  college  first  required  a  knowl- 
edge of  geography  as  a  condition  for  entering  that  uni- 
versity in  1815. 

For  her  faithful  service  Miss  Castle  received,  as  ap- 
pears by  the  following: 

Salem,  Nov.  28,  1804. 
"  Received  of  Mr.  Culpepper  Hoadley  for  teaching 
"summer  school  in  Lewis  district  the  sum  of  $30  in  full 
"amount. 

Tabby  Castle." 

The  summer  term  in  1804  consisted  of  twenty-four 
weeks,  compensation  $1.25  per  week.  The  winter  school 
covered  fifteen  weeks,  at  $1.62-£  per  week. 


TABITHA  CASTLE'S  SCHOOL.  87 

Samuel  Scott,  in  the  winter  time,  was  allowed  for 
boarding  Miss  Castle  ten  weeks  seven  and  50-100  ($7.50) 
dollars.  It  is  interesting  to  those  who  remember  the 
families  that  were  living  at  that  time  to  recall  the  names 
of  the  families  that  Miss  Castle  boarded  with.  I  copy 
from  the  record  that  she  left.  It  appears  that  she 
boarded  around  in  the  summer  the  entire  six  months, 
but  there  were  a  few  families  living  in  the  remote  parts 
of  the  district  that  were  not  honored  by  the  presence  of 
Miss  Castle,  viz.:  Mr.  Chester  Hoadley,  Mr.  Philo 
Hoadley,  Mr.  Asahel  Lewis  and  others.  From  the  rec- 
ord it  appears  that  some  of  the  convenient  places  for  the 
teacher  to  board,  were  in  the  following  named  families: 

Deacon  Calvin  Spenter 2  weeks  and  4  days. 

Mr.  Albin  Terrell 2  "  "  1  day. 

Mr.EzraLewis 2  "  "  4  days. 

Mr.AsaScott 2  "  "  1  day. 

Mr.  Jonah  Woodruff 2  "  "  1  day. 

Mr.  Culpepper  Hoadley 2 

Mr.  Stephen  Warner 2  "  "  3  days. 

and  others;  but  in  the  cold  and  dreary  winter  a  less  num- 
ber of  families  were  favored  with  the  presence  of  Miss 
Castle.  In  the  winter  of  1803  and  '04  those  favored 
were:  Esq.  Lewis,  six  days;  Mr.  Ezra  Lewis,  five  days; 
Mr.  Culpepper  Hoadley,  four  days;  Mr.  Enoch  Scott, 
four  days;  Mr.  Jonah  Woodruff,  four  days;  Mr.  Samuel 
S.  Lewis,  three  days;  Mr.  Calvin  Spencer,  Mr.  Amos 
Culver  and  Albin  Terrell,  each  one  day. 

But  Mr.  Chester  Hoadley,  who  lived  upon  the  moun- 
tain, must  be  honored  by  the  presence  of  the  school 
teacher,  so  Miss  Castle  boarded  in  his  family  four  days, 
even  in  winter  time. 

7 


88  EARLY  SCHOOLS  OF  NAUGATUCK. 

It  was  convenient  in  winter  to  board  with  Mr.  Sam- 
uel Scott  and  in  bad  weather,  so  Miss  Castle  boarded  in 
his  family  for  ten  weeks,  for  which  he  was  paid  75  cents 
per  week. 

The  writer  after  much  work  has  endeavored  to  make 
out  a  roll  of  honor  as  nearly  correct  as  possible.  If  the 
roll  of  honor  had  been  made  out  in  1804,  as  was  the  cus- 
tom in  later  years,  it  would  be  as  follows: 


THE   ROLL  OP   HONOR   FOR   THE   TERM  BEGINNING  MAY 
16,  1804. — TABBY   CASTLE,  TEACHER. 


Name 

Age 

Name 

Age 

1  Gordon  Lewis  Beckley, 

16 

29  Fanny  Porter, 

16 

2  Flora                      " 

13 

30  Thomas  Spencer, 

16 

3  Leva                       " 

9 

31  Harris           " 

13 

4  Lucy  Calkins, 

15 

32  Lockey         " 

11 

5  Marcia     " 

13 

33  Lucian          " 

9 

6  Julia 

10 

34  Esther          " 

7 

7  Chloe       " 

8 

35  Ransom  Scott, 

12 

8  Nancy      " 

5 

36  Lucy          " 

11 

9  Clarissa  Culver, 

13 

37  Julia          " 

9 

10  Susan           " 

10 

38  David  S.    " 

7 

11  Ransom       " 

7 

39  Harvey      " 

14 

12  Josiah         " 

5 

40  Betsy         " 

12 

13  Curtis          " 

7 

41  Ruth          " 

10 

14  Wm  DeForest, 

7 

42  Elias          " 

5 

15  Hial  Hoadley, 

13 

43  Lewis         " 

5 

16  Harvey     " 

13 

44  Clara  Smith, 

14 

17  Reuben     " 

10 

45  Comfort  " 

12 

18  Lewis  M.  " 

7 

46  John        " 

10 

19  David  S.  " 

5 

47  Celista  Terrell, 

10 

20  Samuel     " 

14 

48  Hasard       " 

8 

21  Leonard  " 

12 

49  Laura         " 

6 

22  Larmon    " 

9 

50  Baldwin  Warner, 

11 

23  Alvin        " 

6 

51  Sally               " 

9 

24  Milo  Lewis, 

15 

52  Clarissa         " 

6 

25  Selden     " 

13 

53  Jonah  Woodruff, 

16 

26  Eunice    " 

8 

54  Mabel          " 

10 

27  Lanson    " 

16 

55  Abiah           " 

8 

28  Larmon  " 

4 

30  boys  and  25  girls.  . 


TABITHA  CASTLE'S  SCHOOL.  89 

Of  the  thirty  boys  that  attended  Miss  Castle's 
school,  thirteen  lived  and  died  within  the  limits  of  Nau- 
gatuck. 

The  average  duration  of  their  lives  was  over  61  years. 

All  of  the  thirteen  afterwards  married,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  Lanson  Lewis;  he  died  a  young  man  at  the 
age  of  25  years. 

Many  lived  to  be  over  70  years  of  age,  and  one,  Mr. 
Josiah  Culver,  reached  the  advanced  age  of  nearly  90 

years. 

Of  the  thirteen  boys,  seven  became  farmers,  besides 
the  two  that  were  merchants  and  farmers.  Two  others 
engaged  in  manufacturing  and  farming. 

Two  of  her  scholars  afterward  followed  the  occupa- 
tion of  house  carpenters. 

Four  of  Miss  Castle's  boy  scholars  died  in  the  state 
of  Ohio,  three  in  the  state  of  New  York  and  one  of  them 
in  the  state  of  Illinois;  one  in  South  America;  one  in 
New  Orleans,  La. ;  two  in  Oxford,  Conn.,  and  one  in  each 
of  the  following  named  towns:  Bethany,  Derby,  Sey- 
mour, and  New  Haven,  Conn;  place  of  death  unknown,  1. 

One  of  Miss  Castle's  scholars  who  resided  in  Nau- 
gatuck  the  greater  part  of  his  life,  and  died  in  New 
Haven,  Conn.,  deserves  mention.  I  refer  to  Mr.  Wm. 
C  DeForest.  He,  in  early  life,  engaged  in  the  manu- 
facture of  woolen  cloth.  He  was  at  one  time  in  partner- 
ship with  one  Leverett  Candee. 

Their  factory  was  located  on  what  is  now  Rubber 
Avenue,  and  on  the  ground  now  occupied  by  the  Good- 
year Metallic  Rubber  Shoe  Co.  In  the  year  of  1825  Mr. 
DeForest  purchased  of  Jesse  Wooster  the  old  grist  mill, 


90  EARLY  SCHOOLS  OF  NAUGATUCK. 

built  by  Samuel  Scott,  which  stood  near  the  south  end 
of  Church  street.  Mr.  DeForest  formed  a  partnership 
with  Henry  Hine,  the  name  of  the  firm  being  Wm.  De- 
Forest &  Co.  The  company  enlarged  the  old  mill,  be- 
sides building  a  new  factory  near  it.  This  company 
carried  on  an  extensive  business,  and  were  prominent 
as  manufacturers  of  satinet  cloth,  having  at  one  time 
three  cloth  mills  in  operation,  one  at  Naugatuck,  one  in 
Waterbury,  and  another  at  Quaker's  Farms  in  the  town 
of  Oxford. 

Mr.  DeForest  possessed  a  kind  disposition  and  his 
generous  acts  of  charity,  his  earnest  efforts  to  improve 
the  town,  and  his  successful  work  to  sustain  the  Episco- 
pal church,  will  long  be  remembered.  It  may  be  of  in- 
terest to  the  people  of  Naugatuck,  who  are  so  much  in- 
terested in  the  rubber  over- shoe  industry,  to  know  that 
the  first  rubber  over- shoe  was  lasted  in  the  office  of  Wm. 
DeForest  &  Co.  Probably  in  the  year  of  1842,  I  regret 
that  I  cannot  give  the  exact  date,  four  or  more  persons 
met  Mr.  Charles  Goodyear,  the  inventor,  at  the  woolen 
factory  office  of  the  Wm.  DeForest  Co.  Besides  Mr. 
Goodyear  and  his  daughter,  Miss  Ellen  Goodyear,  there 
were  present  Mr.  Wm.  DeForest,  Mr.  Milo  Lewis,  Mr. 
Samuel  J.  Lewis,  and  Mr.  Wm.  H.  Elliott,  of  New  Ha- 
ven, Conn.  Mr.  Goodyear  had  provided  the  materials 
and  lasts  for  the  purpose  of  vulcanizing  a  rubber  over- 
shoe on  a  last.  The  success  of  this  experiment  unboubt- 
edly  led  up  to  the  establishment  of  Naugatuck's  great- 
est industry.  Mr.  DeForest  died  in  New  Haven  June 
10,  1879,  aged  over  82  years. 

Mr.  Milo  Lewis  was  also  prominent  as  a  manufact- 


TABITHAiCASTLE'S  SCHOOL.  91 

urer  in  Naugatuck.  His  factory  was  located  in  Cotton 
Hollow.  Mr.  Lewis  carried  on  the  manufacture  of  cot- 
ton warp  for  a  number  of  years,  and  employed  a  large 
number  of  hands. 

Only  one  of  Miss  Castle's  scholars  received  a  college 
education,  Mr.  Lucian  Spencer,  who  was  a  graduate  of 
Schenectady  college  in  the  year  of  1823.  He  studied 
medicine  with  Dr.  Cornwall  of  Cheshire,  Conn.,  and 
commenced  practice  in  Salem  in  the  year  of  1829.  He 
became  a  doctor  of  great  popularity.  He  practiced  in 
Bethany,  Naugatuck  and  vicinity  for  a  number  of  years. 
He  married  Harriet  Thomas  of  Bethany,  where  he  re- 
moved, and  died  on  February  22,  1844.  The  news  of  his 
sudden  death,  in  trying  to  save  his  two  boys  from  a 
burning  house  (all  perished),  caused  grief  and  sorrow 
all  through  this  part  of  the  Naugatuck  valley,  where  he 
was  well  known. 

One  of  the  number  of  Miss  Castle's  scholars  that 
moved  to  New  Connecticut,  now  Ohio,  was  David  Sim- 
mons Hoadley,  the  eldest  son  of  Philo  and  Esther  Hine 
Hoadley,  who  moved  with  their  two  children  to  Berlin, 
Delaware  County,  Ohio,  about  the  year  1807.  David  S. 
Hoadley  witnessed  the  erection  of  the  fort  or  block-house 
at  Berlin,  Ohio,  and  was  one  of  the  number  who  nightly 
sought  protection  within  its  walls  against  expected  In- 
dians during  the  war  of  1812.  This  building  was  his 
schoolhouse  and  place  of  worship.  Here  he  finished  his 
education  that  he  commenced  in  Miss  Castle's  school  in 
Naugatuck,  Conn. 

He  encountered  the  incidents  and  privations  of  a 
pioneer's  life. 


92  EARLY  SCHOOLS  OF  NAUGATUCK. 

His  discipline  fitted  him  for  the  hard  and  active 
work,  settling  up  a  new  country,  and  founding  a  new 
state. 

He  united  in  marriage  with  Esther  Nettleton,  in 
March,  1825,  and  was  blessed  with  six  children,  who  per- 
formed their  parts  in  the  settlement  and  growth  of  Del- 
aware County. 

Mr.  Hoadley  united  with  the  Berlin  Baptist  church 
in  1829.  He  was  deacon  of  the  church  more  than  forty 
years.  He  was  one  of  its  sweet  singers,  and  led  in  the 
sacred  songs  for  nearly  fifty  years. 

He  died  April  23,  1880,  aged  over  80  years.  He 
passed  away  mourned  by  all,  and  retaining  the  love  and 
respect  of  all  that  knew  him.  He  was  one  of  the  best 
representatives  that  went  from  Connecticut  to  settle  and 
create  the  great  state  of  Ohio. 

Of  the  twenty-five  girls  that  attended  Miss  Castle's 
school  in  the  Lewistown  district,  seven  died  in  Nauga- 
tuck. 

The  average  duration  of  their  lives  was  over  53 
years.  The  eldest  of  her  girl  scholars,  who  died  in  Nau  - 
gatuck,  was  Clarissa  Warner,  who  married  Mr.  Giles 
Hotchkiss,  and  died  aged  75  years.  The  first  death  of 
all  her  scholars  was  Miss  Clarissa  Culver,  who  was  taken 
from  those  that  loved  her  at  the  age  of  17  years. 

All  of  Miss  Castle's  school  girls  that  died  in  Nauga- 
tuck,  married,  except  Miss  Culver.  It  is  believed  that 
ten  of  the  girls  that  attended  her  school  moved  to  new 
Connecticut,  now  Ohio.     Mr.  Roswell  Calkins  held  the 


TABITHA  CASTLE'S   SCHOOL.  Q3 

record,  for  he  took  five  of  Miss  Castle's  girl   scholars 
with  him  to  New  Connecticut. 

The  writer  does  not  know  that  all  of  the  ten  died  in 
the  state  of  Ohio.  I  have  evidence  that  six  of  the  ten 
married  and  believe  that  the  other  four  were  married 
and  all  contributed  to  the  increase  of  the  population  of 
the  new  state. 

Thus  Tabitha  Castle's  influence  as  a  school  teacher 
was  extended  beyond  the  bounds  of  Connecticut,  and 
the  people  in  many  of  the  towns  in  Ohio  are  proud  in 
saying  that  their  ancestors  came  from  Connecticut. 

Two  others  settled  in  the  West,  one  in  Michigan  and 
the  other  in  Illinois.  One  other  married  here,  and  moved 
to  the  state  of  New  York. 

Five  died  in  other  towns  in  Connecticut,  viz:  Two 
in  Waterbury,  two  in  the  town  of  Oxford,  and  one  in 
Norwich,  Conn. 

It  is  believed  that  all  the  girls  of  Miss  Castle's  school 
afterwards  married,  excepting  Miss  Culver,  who  died  at 
the  early  age  of  17. 

One  of  her  scholars  was  permitted  to  reach  an  un- 
usual age;  I  refer  to  Miss  Eunice  Lewis,  who  married 
William  Mitchell  of  Southbury  in  1814. 

They  afterwards  moved  to  Michigan.  Mrs.  Mitch- 
ell was  living  in  Jackson,  Michigan,  in  February,  1891, 
having  passed  her  95th  birthday. 

One  of  Miss  Castle's  scholars,  Miss  Fanny  Porter, 
married  Abraham  Fowler,  a  lieutenant  in  the  United 
States  Army.  This  was  considered  quite  an  honor  in 
those  days. 


94  EARLY  SCHOOLS  OF  NAUGATUCK. 

Three,  perhaps  more,  of  Miss  Tabitha  Castle's 
scholars  became  school  teachers. 

One  of  her  boy  scholars,  Mr.  Harris  Spencer,  taught 
school  in  New  Jersey,  and  perhaps  elsewhere.  Miss 
Leva  Beckley  taught  school  in  the  same  old  schoolhouse 
about  the  year  1812.  But  Deacon  Calvin  Spencer  had 
a  daughter,  Miss  Lockey  Spencer,  who  was  one  of  Miss 
Tabitha  Castle's  scholars.  In  about  six  years  after  Miss 
Castle  had  vacated  the  school  in  Lewistown  district, 
Miss  Lockey  Spencer  was  teaching  school  in  the  same 
old  schoolhouse.  She  became  a  very  popular  teacher. 
Besides  teaching  in  Lewistown  district,  she  taught  in 
three  other  school  districts  in  the  town  of  Waterbury, 
also  in  the  towns  of  Middlebury,  Bethany  and  Prospect. 

But  this  could  not  always  last,  for  one  of  Miss  Cas- 
tle's scholars,  Mr.  Selden  Lewis,  won  her  for  his  wife. 

While  he  gained  a  very  intelligent  and  lovely  wife, 
Waterbury  and  the  neighboring  towns  lost  a  first-class 
school  teacher. 

And  it  so  happened  that  after  the  old  schoolhouse 
was  taken  down  the  land  came  back  to  Mr.  Lewis,  so 
that  in  their  happy  married  life  they  enjoyed  together 
the  possession  of  the  very  land  on  which  the  old  school- 
house  stood. 

Miss  Tabitha  Castle,  in  1805,  married  Mr.  Stephen 
Barrett,  and  settled  in  Berlin,  Conn.  They  had  one 
child,  Rhoda,  who  married  Milo  Hotchkiss. 

Miss  Tabitha  Castle  joined  the  Prospect  church  in 
January,  1799. 

Stephen  Barrett  died  in  the  year  of  1813.  His  widow 


TABITHA  CASTLE'S  SCHOOL.  95 

married  2d,  Mr.  Frederick  Hotchkiss  of  Prospect,  Conn. 
Mrs.  Tabitha  Hotchkiss  died  in  the  winter  of  1851,  in 
Berlin,  Conn.,  and  was  buried  beside  her  first  husband 
in  the  Kensington  East  burying  ground,  which  is  in  the 
town  of  Berlin,  Conn. 


I  am  greatly  indebted  to  Mr.  Prank  W.  Eaton,  su- 
perintendent of  schools,  who  has  kindly  furnished  me 
with  the  number  of  children  between  the  ages  of  4  and 
16,  residing  (1904)  in  the  territory  comprising  the  Lewis- 
town  School  District  of  1804.  The  increase  for  the  one 
hundred  years  is  1143  children  of  school  age;  a  little 
over  2078  per  cent. 


The  Country  School. 

In  sweet  October's  short'ning  days 
When  comes  the  purple,  smoky  haze 
Of  many  an  Indian  summer  morn, 
When  through  the  rustling  blades  of  corn 
The  winsome  winds  of  autumn  play — 
No  trace  of  winter,  cold  and  gray- 
Then  fancy  takes  a  backward  flight, 
Forgotten  pleasures  come  to  light, 
The  fun  and  frolic,  rigid  rule, 
Of  childhood's  joy— the  country  school ! 

The  course  of  study  was  not  high, 
But  small  boys  oft  were  made  to  sigh, 
With  eyes  upon  the  dog-eared  book, 
Not  daring  otherwheres  to  look; 
"The  rule  of  three"  they  pondered  o  er, 
And  sadlv  mused  on  Webster's  lore; 
McGuffey's  Readers  were  the  joy 
Of  every  story-loving  boy— 
The  teacher  at  his  desk  and  stool 
Was  czar  and  sultan  in  the  school  I 

But  minds  oppress'd  would  soon  rebound, 
When  came  the  call  of  "  fox  and  hound; 
And  ' '  townball  "had  its  devotees, 
Who  scorned  all  games  that  proffered  ease; 
With  laughing  eye  and  rosy  cheek 
The  girls  would  play  at  "hide  and  seek. 
Wheri  "books"  were  called  with  tinkling  bell 
A  thirsty  crowd  stood  round  the  well, 
Waiting  their  parch-ed  lips  to  cool 
Before  the  grind  of  country  school ! 

Where  are  the  boys  who  played  with  me 
In  long  gone  days  of  "used  to  be.' 
Ah,  some  are  sleeping,  calm  and  still, 
Near  Salem  church— under  the  hill ! 
And  some  are  living,  brave  and  strong, 
To  lift  their  voice  against  all  wrong, 
And  in  the  pulpit  or  the  pew 
Uphold  the  good,  stand  by  the  true- 
Thank  God  for  all-the  kindly  rule. 
And  lessons  learned  in  country  school ! 
Ana  ^  cheat,**,  in  St.  Louis  Globe- Democrat. 


University  of 
Connecticut 

Libraries 


